For the first time ever, athletes will compete for performance bonuses at the European Athletics Championships with an overall pot of €500,000 available at Roma 2024 this summer, European Athletics announced on Thursday (18).
With both the Olympic Games and European Athletics Championships taking place on the continent, the innovation adds even more prestige to the latter event in what promises to be a historic summer for the sport.
Performance bonuses for Roma 2024 - which will be held between 7-12 June - were first agreed by the European Athletics Council in October, but European Athletics can now confirm both the amount and how the bonuses will be distributed.
Ten performance bonuses of €50,000 each will be allocated across five event areas with an even split between the male and female disciplines as follows:
WOMEN
A) Sprints & Hurdles (100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles)
B) Middle & Long Distance (800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 3000m steeplechase)
C) Throws (Shot Put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Javelin Throw)
D) Jumps (High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump)
E) Road, Combined Events & Relays (Half Marathon, 20km Race Walk, Heptathlon)
MEN
F) Sprints & Hurdles (100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles)
G) Middle & Long Distance (800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 3000m steeplechase)
H) Throws (Shot Put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Javelin Throw)
I) Jumps (High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump, Triple Jump)
J) Road, Combined Events & Relays (Half Marathon, 20km Race Walk, Decathlon)
The athlete within each event area that achieves the highest scoring performance in the finals using World Athletics scoring tables will be awarded €50,000.
It is a landmark development for the sport, with competitors set to earn financial rewards for the first time ever at Europe’s premier athletics event since the inaugural championships were held in Turin, Italy in 1934.
This is a truly historic development for the sport in Europe,” said European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov.
“Within athletics, we are rightly proud of our rich heritage. And to ensure our sport remains healthy, prosperous and high-profile into the future, we need to be innovative, particularly with our showpiece event, the European Athletics Championships.
“We want to see the best European athletes, delivering their best performances at our biggest competition. The performance bonuses will help achieve those aims to make Roma 2024 the exciting spectacle we all know it will be.
“Our sport has long set an example for gender equality and equal opportunities, and we often take it for granted. But we should also celebrate that equal pay and recognition for male and female disciplines is something that is both expected and delivered in athletics.
“Closer collaboration with elite athletes to promote our major events is core to the Strategic Roadmap and we welcome continued partnership to grow our sport together” added President Karamarinov.
The performance bonus model will be reviewed after Roma 2024 following feedback from athletes at the championships and the European Athletics Athletes Committee members.
Lea Sprunger, European Athletics Athletes Committee Chair and 2018 European 400m hurdles gold medallist, said: “We welcome the performance bonuses as a great step forward for our sport and I am sure it will help athletes produce their very best performances at Roma 2024.”