Since the day they were founded, the Olympics have had a confusing relationship with money. The games were supposed to celebrate sport for sport's sake. But the price athletes paid to be any good was far too high, and it took virtually no time for the concept of amateurism that the Olympics rested on to be viewed as unrealistic, if not an all-out ruse.
This week's news that track's international federation will pay $50,000 to gold-medal winners at the Paris Games was the latest step in a century's worth of unraveling the myth of amateurism at the Olympics.
A look at some key points along the way:
As early as 1894, two years before the first modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin was sounding different notes about the concept of amateurism. In one speech, according to the authoritative book on the topic, “The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism,” he “warned against the ‘spirit of gain and professionalism’ that threatened its existence.'” But not long after that, “he denounced amateurism as ‘an admirable mummy.’”
In what's considered one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the games, the IOC stripped Jim Thorpe of the two gold medals he won at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics because he had played semi-pro baseball before that. The IOC restored the medals in 1983, 30 years after his death.
As the Cold War began, the Soviet Union, East Germany and other Eastern bloc satellites started handing well-paying “jobs” in the military and other civil services to Olympic athletes. They earned big salaries for doing virtually no work related to that title. Their main job was training, and though they weren't officially paid to play their sports, nobody tried to disguise this ruse. Some believe this led to a low point in the 1970s for the American Olympic movement, which was largely still adhering to strict amateur rules.
The IOC began tinkering with its Rule 26, the rule that inscribed the amateur imprimatur to the Olympics, in the mid-1970s. An IOC member involved in the changes, Willi Daume, put it best when he pointed to the billion-dollar business the Olympics had become: “It is only the athletes that have to make sacrifices and show proof of asceticism,” he said. The IOC began letting individual sports federations write their own rules about amateurism. The track federation was among the first to make a move toward allowing athletes to get paid, though at first, it demanded they put their earnings in a trust.
When Juan Antonio Samaranch became IOC president in 1980, he made it clear he wanted the best athletes at the Olympics. The IOC worked hard with soccer, ice hockey and tennis (a demonstration sport in 1984 and in the official program in 1988), which for various reasons had fought the amateurism rules. By the start of the 1990s, amateurism was written out of the Olympic charter. The 1992 Olympics, which brought NBA stars and the Dream Team to the Barcelona Games, is widely viewed as the start of the professional era at the Olympics.
Most countries now establish prize pools — such as Team USA's “Project Gold” — for their top athletes at the Olympics, while also funding training and living expenses. The U.S. is one of the few outliers, in that its government does not provide funding for the Olympic team. More than a generation into the professional era, tension remains not over whether the athletes can receive money but how much of the pie they really share in. The track announcement is only one small piece of this puzzle, but a symbolically important one. Olympic watchers will be looking closely to see if any sports follow track's lead.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jack Drury scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Stefan Noesen cleaned up a fluky puck bounce off the boards for another 8 seconds later as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 6-3 on Tuesday night, clinching their first-round NHL playoff series in five games.
The Hurricanes twice blew two-goal leads and entered the final 20 minutes in a 3-3 tie before Drury struck for his first career postseason goal, controlling a dribbling puck to zip it past Semyon Varlamov to his blocker side at 4:36 of the third.
Then, after a faceoff win, the Hurricanes dumped the puck into the Islanders end toward the corner. But as Varlamov went behind the net to play the puck, it took an unexpected bounce near the door and caromed right into the crease.
Noesen charged in to bury it as Varlamov tried desperately to get back to the netfront, pushing Carolina to a 5-3 lead at 4:44.
That was ultimately enough to help the Hurricanes finally push past the determined Islanders, earning at least one playoff series win for the sixth time in as many seasons. And that earned them a date with the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the second round.
Carolina jumped to a 3-0 lead in this best-of-7 series before missing out on a chance to clinch in Saturday's double-overtime road loss. That set up a familiar scenario from last year, when the Islanders won Game 5 here to extend that first-round series before falling in six games.
This time, Carolina closed it out even after a tense vibe in its typically rowdy home arena going into those final 20 minutes. By the end, though, Seth Jarvis had added an empty-net clincher at the 18:21 mark to let Hurricanes fans stay in a celebratory roar to close this one out.
Noesen's bizarre goal captured some of the wild action, which included New York's Casey Cizikas scoring in the final seconds of the second on an unguarded net — which emerged when Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen simply stumbled as he scrambled to his right after a stop and fell untouched out of the crease.
Carolina scored twice and rang the post in the opening 3 1/2 minutes and twice led by two goals, only to see the Islanders climb all the way back and tie it at 3 on Cizikas' score to enter the final period.
Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov scored in that opening blitz from Carolina, while Evgeny Kuznetsov added a slow-play score on a penalty shot to beat Varlamov before the end of the period for a 3-1 lead.
Mike Reilly and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders, who won eight of their last nine games to clinch a playoff bid in the waning days of the regular season. That came after a January coaching change with the firing of Lane Lambert to hire Patrick Roy.
Carolina entered the playoffs as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup according to Bet MGM Sportsbook, but the Islanders gave the Hurricanes fits the entire way. That included outplaying Carolina for much of the Game 1 loss, then blowing a 3-0 lead by giving up the tying and go-ahead goals 9 seconds apart in the final 3 minutes of Game 2.
Ultimately, another improbably quick burst helped finish off the Islanders.
Varlamov had 32 saves, while Andersen finished with 22.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
New York Islanders' Hudson Fasching (20) tries to moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Brady Skjei (76) during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal by Andrei Svechnikov during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrates his goal with Sebastian Aho (20) as New York Islanders' Cal Clutterbuck (15) skates by during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Islanders' Kyle Palmieri (21) congratulates Brock Nelson (29) on his goal during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) shoots a penalty shot puck past New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour talks with an official during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) watches the puck controlled by Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) controls the puck against the New York Islanders during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Islanders' Bo Horvat (14) celebrates a goal by teammate Casey Cizikas, not pictured, during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jake Guentzel (59) chases the puck controlled by Carolina Hurricanes' Jake Guentzel (59) during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Tony DeAngelo (77) and goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) tangle with New York Islanders' Anders Lee (27) during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
New York Islanders' Anders Lee (27) collides with Carolina Hurricanes' Brady Skjei (76) and goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during the second period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jalen Chatfield (5) battles with New York Islanders' Anders Lee (27) for the puck during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
