Jamaica’s athletes who won medals at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics and coaches whose individual athletes won medals are to benefit from a $41 million investment package courtesy of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and two of its key sponsorship partners, Supreme Ventures Limited, through the Supreme Ventures Foundation and Mayberry Investments.
The package is called the ‘Olympic Rewards Programme’.
Neither the athletes nor their coaches will immediately receive the funds in their hands.
“The funds will be under management at Mayberry Investments for three years, or until the athlete retires from track and field, whichever is earlier,” said a statement Tuesday from the JOA.
According to the JOA, the investment package is intended to “safeguard funding for the athletes until their retirement phase. As such the $41 million in rewards will go towards funding investment accounts at Mayberry Investments for each medallist and coach whose athlete earned an individual medal”.
“At the end of the period, the athlete can decide whether they would like to cash in their investments or maintain their accounts,” said the JOA.
A first-place finish, a gold medal, gets a $6 million reward; a silver medal winner will benefit with a $4 million reward; and a bronze medal winner will be rewarded with $2 million.
A similar cash amount maintains for relay placing. However, there is a major difference in that the amount will be divided equally among the participants.
“So $6 million will be shared among members of Jamaica’s first-placed 4×100 metres women’s team that won the gold medal; while for the women’s 4×400 metres relay team that placed third, $2 million will be shared among the members of the squad,” the JOA explained.
Coaches will also be rewarded for their work with $1 million for an athlete who won a gold medal, $750,000 for an athlete placing second, and $500,000 for a third-placed bronze medal finish.
The coaching reward is only applicable to individual medallists, and not relays.
In announcing their contribution, the Supreme Ventures Foundation stated that it will be putting up $30 million to reward the athletes.
“We are incredibly proud of all athletes who have ever represented Jamaica on the world stage, and we are grateful to have this opportunity to reward this year’s cohort of medallists,” said Peter McConnell, chairman, Supreme Ventures Foundation.
The package will be supplemented by additional contributions of $6 million from Mayberry Investments and $5 million from the JOA, the apex body for local sports.
“Mayberry wishes to congratulate all the athletes that represented us at the Olympics and all of the people who worked so hard to make this national effort yet another success,” said Christopher Berry, executive chairman, Mayberry Investments Limited.
“For the Jamaica Olympic Association this partnership represents critical aspects of our vision for the future of the business of sport and emphasises our conviction that the lives of athletes and coaches matter beyond the present,” said JOA president, Chris Samuda.
“The Jamaica Olympic Association, Supreme Ventures Limited, and Mayberry Investments Limited have come together in an investment trilogy, at the heart of which are Jamaica’s athletes and coaches and the strategy of which resides in financial prudence and security,” Samuda added.
Source: https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/41m-investment-package-set-tokyo-olympic-medallists
Other Sources:
Jamaica Gleaner
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20210825/tokyo-medallists-some-coaches-get-41m-reward
Jamaica Observer
