Universality of the Olympic Games
The Beijing 2022 Scholarships came to an end, with 236 Scholarship-holders (out of 429) from 80 NOCs participating in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. While two years before the next Summer Olympic Games, the Scholarship-holders for Paris 2024 were announced, and Olympic Solidarity and NOC Services programmes play a key role in the preparation of both athletes and NOCs.
Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022
Olympic Scholarships for Athletes
January 2022 saw the launch of Olympic Solidarity’s Olympic Scholarships for Athletes – Paris 2024 programme. A total of 1,146 individual Scholarships were awarded in 2022 to athletes from 145 NOCs, more than 70 per cent of all NOCs expected to compete at the Games in 2024.
NOC Uniform Support Programme
For the 4th time since its inception in Rio 2016, the NOC Competition Uniform Support Programme helped provide athletes who otherwise would not have the latest high-tech competition clothing with training and competition equipment for the Beijing Games. Thanks to this programme led by the IOC, in collaboration with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and five of the world’s leading sporting goods brands, 36 athletes from 12 NOCs were provided with state-of-the-art and tailored uniforms, in the colours of their respective NOCs.
Olympic Games Paris 2024
With just two years to go until the Olympic Games Paris 2024 kick off, Olympic Solidarity and NOC Services programmes play a key role in the preparation of both athletes and NOCs.
Olympic Scholarships for Athletes
January 2022 saw the launch of Olympic Solidarity’s Olympic Scholarships for Athletes – Paris 2024 programme. A total of 1,146 individual Scholarships were awarded in 2022 to athletes from 145 NOCs, more than 70 per cent of all NOCs expected to compete at the Games in 2024.
One of the residents of the Petit Couronne Centre and Olympic Scholarship-holder is Congolese sprinter Natacha Ngoye Akamabi. She explains why this Scholarship which she has been granted has such a strong impact on her career.
Another Olympic Scholarship holder for Paris 2024 is Tokyo 2020 triple jump bronze medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango (BUR), who was featured in the Olympic Solidarity and NOC Services Annual Report 2021. He crowned his successful 2023 season by winning gold at the Athletics world championships in Budapest (HUN) in August 2023. In the story below, he explains how this Scholarship is making a difference in his career.
Refugee Athlete Support for Paris 2024
Funded by Olympic Solidarity and managed by the Olympic Refuge Foundation, the Refugee Athlete Support programme gives scholarships to athletes, contributing to their training and helping these individuals to prepare and participate in high-level competitions. We work closely with National Olympic Committees and National and International Federations to support refugee athletes living in their host countries. Athletes on the programme are elite competitors in their respective sports and recognised refugees or beneficiaries of international protection according to the UNHCR.
By the end of 2022, 52 athletes from 12 countries, living in 18 host countries are supported through the Refugee Athlete Support programme. They represent 10 sports and all hope of being selected for the Refugee Olympic Team for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.