Sebastian Coe, the chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), has announced that promises for grant funds for athletes during the 2012 Olympics will be honoured.
Olympic and Paralympic teams will be able to apply for up to £26,000 each towards the cost of attending preparation camps in the UK – an investment worth £9m.
The purpose of the Pre-Games Training Camp Grant Scheme is to enable more teams to prepare for the Games in approved facilities in the UK, in an effort to spread the benefits to towns and cities around the country.
The incentive scheme caused a PR furore when it was outlined in the bidding process. London 2012 officials were accused of bribing International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, and the details were hastily withdrawn.
However, Coe, a Olympic gold medallist, has made no secret of his desire to deliver the most athlete-friendly Games in history – a claim he reiterated today. "We have always been serious when we said that we wanted the London 2012 Games to be the sporting experience of a lifetime for all competing athletes.
"Our grant plan is one example, but an important one, of how we plan to honour that pledge and place the welfare of athletes at the very heart of planning for the Games."
The news will be welcomed by sports administrators who are submitting bids to LOCOG to be featured on the Pre-Camp Training Camp Guide which will be issued to National Olympic Committees in 2008.
Only camps which have been approved will be submitted to the international community for their consideration.
