The Olympics is the most famous sporting event globally but can professional athletes compete in the Olympics? This question made most sports enthusiasts wonder, and the answer is yes. However, this was not always the case since professional athletes were initially not allowed to participate in Olympics. There was a reason that still seems reasonable, but professional athletes got permission, and now they can become part of the event.
Olympics was founded because only amateur athletes could participate in various sports and show their skills and abilities by competing against other amateur players. Now that it was mainly founded for amateur athletes who did not have enough skills and abilities; unlike professional athletes, furthermore, amateur athletes cannot compete against professionals. For that reason, professionals were barred from participating in Olympics. So can professional athletes compete in the Olympics?
WAS OLYMPICS FOUNDED FOR AMATEURS ONLY: CAN PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES COMPETE IN THE OLYMPICS
Despite its global fame, people would most often ask, “can professional athletes participate in the Olympics” and the answer was initially no, but currently, it is yes. Ancient Greek Olympics inspired modern Olympics, with their roots dating back to 1896. For a long, Olympics was known as a “bastion for amateurism” where professionals were disallowed to become part of the event.
The answer to “can professional athletes compete in the Olympics?” was “no” until the end of the 20th century. That was when International Olympics Committee (IOC) had to adopt specific changes, and allowing professional athletes to participate in the event was one of the significant changes they adopted.
The prime reason behind this significant change was amateur players not getting endorsements and sponsorships, resulting in the Olympics’ financial loss.
WHAT INITIALLY PREVENTED PROFESSIONALS FROM BECOMING PART OF THE OLYMPICS
The founder of the modern Olympics was Pierre De Coubertin, who also founded IOC. During that time, sports in English Publish Schools were utterly integrated into academia, and students would equally participate in the sports as well as academic activities. This was what inspired Coubertin, and he decided to come up with an event that is held explicitly for amateur players.
As a result of the mission for which Modern Olympics was founded, professional athletes were barred from participating in the event. And the reason was that amateurs were not competent enough to compete against professionals. Even in the initial stages, people would want to know that can professional athletes compete in the Olympics.
Based on this philosophy, participants who had taken proper training and specialized in only one sport were considered professionals and ultimately not allowed to participate in Olympics as they had an unfair advantage over their counterparts.
HOW OLYMPICS EMERGED FROM AMATEURISM TO PROFESSIONALISM
Although the answer to the question “can professional athletes compete in the Olympics” is “Yes”, there is still a long history behind it because revolution needs decades or even centuries in certain areas.
In the history of the Olympics, sure, participants were punishers for either teaching the skill to others or becoming part of a semi-professional game as they were classified as professional. That leads to putting Olympics amateur participants at financial risk and having a severe disadvantage over professional athletes.
Another reason behind changing the Olympics from amateurisation to professionalism was that they realized that not getting sponsorships and endorsements was the absence of well-known players with a huge fan base. Not getting sponsorships from brands and companies could result in financial risk to the event’s future.
In 1992 a basketball game was played between professional team players from US and Croatia, where Croatia was defeated, and the victorious team achieved a gold medal. That was the most iconic moment in the history of the Olympics that took place in Barcelona.
FINAL WORDS
Can professional athletes compete in the Olympics? The answer is yes; however, this was not the case since the beginning, but due to specific pressures, the IOC had to make a decision where they allow professional athletes to become part of the event. One prime reason was not getting sponsorships and endorsements that could risk the event’s future.
Thank you for reading!