The International Olympic Committee has taken the historic step of putting cash directly into the pockets of every Olympian, announcing a universal grant of $10,000 per athlete beginning with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. The decision, unveiled during the 146th IOC Session in Lausanne, marks a fundamental departure from a century-old model that channelled revenue exclusively through national committees and international federations. The one-time payment, part of the new “Fit for the Future Olympian Grant”, is designed to support athletes in continuing their sporting careers or transitioning to life after elite competition.

Under the scheme, the IOC has allocated $140 million per four-year Olympiad. The first payments will be disbursed in 2027, once the application and distribution mechanisms are finalised in coordination with existing National Olympic Committee structures. Viewed from Lausanne, the reform is the signature initiative of newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who placed direct athlete support at the centre of her presidency. The move was announced alongside a broader package of governance changes, including a new three-step host selection process for future Games, which will begin in March 2027 and culminate with the choice of the 2036 summer host in 2029.

The same session confirmed that ski mountaineering will return to the Olympic programme as an additional sport at the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps. The discipline made its senior debut at Milano Cortina 2026, where it featured three medal events. For 2030, the programme expands to five, adding individual races for men and women to the existing sprint and mixed relay. Russian media noted that the 2026 competition yielded the country’s only medal of those Games—a silver in the men’s sprint won by Nikita Filippov, competing as a neutral athlete. The International Ski Mountaineering Federation had been among the first winter sports bodies to readmit Russian and Belarusian competitors under neutral status in late 2024.

Karl Stoss, chair of the Olympic Programme Commission, said the sport’s inclusion reflected its strong presence in Alpine regions and its capacity to enhance the diversity and authenticity of the Games. The decision also aligns with a June 2026 amendment to the Olympic Charter, which will allow individual disciplines, rather than entire sports, to be evaluated for inclusion starting with the 2032 edition. The 2030 Games, awarded to the French Alps with conditions requiring government guarantees by the end of 2024, will now take shape with a programme that blends established winter disciplines and a fast-growing mountain sport. The next concrete step for the IOC’s grant programme is the opening of the application process for Milano Cortina athletes later this year, with the first payments to follow in 2027.