Olympics-Smaller South American nations defy financial odds to reach Paris

Uruguayan sailor Dolores Moreira, sailing during a training session, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Montevideo, Uruguay, May 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mariana Greif

By Lucinda Elliott

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - For Uruguayan sailor Dolores Moreira, renting a boat and towing it across Europe to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics is all part of the money-saving process when you come from a small South American country.

This summer marks the third Olympic Games for the 25-year-old Moreira, known as Lola, representing her native Uruguay.

Uruguayan rugby player Guillermo Lijtenstein lifts weight during a training session, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Montevideo, Uruguay, June 11, 2024. REUTERS/Mariana Greif

Countless times she has attached a dinghy to the roof of her car to set off across South America to compete regionally since her Olympic debut at the age of 16 in Rio de Janeiro.

Uruguayan Rugby Seven team during a warm up session, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Montevideo, Uruguay, June 11, 2024. REUTERS/Mariana Greif

So collecting a rental boat in Barcelona this month and driving it to Marseille to cut costs will be nothing new.

"For days and days I'd drive with the boat up top to make everything a little more accessible and so I could travel to more championships and perfect my technique," Moreira told Reuters at the La Estacada yacht club in Montevideo, overlooking a vast estuary.

Uruguayan sailor Dolores Moreira poses for a photo before a training session, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Montevideo, Uruguay, May 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mariana Greif

South America and the Caribbean received the lowest level of funding for athlete grants from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) compared to every other world region, according to 2021 figures filed with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States.

Uruguayan sailor Dolores Moreira, prepares her ILCA 6 boat for a training session, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Montevideo, Uruguay, May 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mariana Greif

National sports budgets in South America are primarily dedicated to football -- the continent's favourite and most lucrative pastime.

There were no high-level sailing competitions in Uruguay said Moreira, who grew up in the riverside department of Paysandu north-west of the capital.

To improve, "you have to constantly go abroad," which meant expenses accumulated she said.

Liber Garcia is one of the country's Olympic committee directors and works as a bank manager in Montevideo. In Uruguay, with a population of 3.4 million, "everything is amateur, even the (Olympic) leadership itself," said Garcia.

He is taking annual leave in July to attend the Games, alongside 13 other directors who will cover their own travel expenses.

Uruguay set aside less than two million dollars to send an entire team to Paris and, despite the economic challenges, 27 athletes across nine different sports are expected to compete.

"This speaks to the great value, grit and resilience of our sportsmen and women," Garcia said.

New legislation that came into effect last year means that the central Uruguayan government must now designate roughly one million dollars annually to the national secretariat of sport to support athletes and coaches.

In countries such as France, annual budgets are in the tens of millions of euros.

Having a set mandate for greater resources would allow sports federations to better prepare for the Games, putting the country in a "much better position than before but it is still insufficient," said Garcia.

BREAK WITH PAST GAMES

On the outskirts of Montevideo, 33-year-old rugby player Guillermo Lijtenstein was lifting weights as part of a rugby sevens team warm-up at a local training ground.

"Financial support is very important," said Lijtenstein who works as a physiotherapist. He said he had juggled matches and early morning training sessions with work hours throughout his decade-long sporting career.

For the first time in Uruguay's Olympic history a rugby team qualified for Paris, following the successful entry of the Los Teros sevens into the high-performance circuit in 2022 which is attracting sponsors.

"We were always used to giving that bit extra, not thinking so much about that economic part, which I think characterises the Uruguayan athlete," Lijtenstein said.

Prize money will be offered to Olympic champions in athletics for the first time this year, in a symbolic break with past games.

The decision in April to award $50,000 to each gold medallist by World Athletics was criticised by other international federations but was generally welcomed by leading athletes.

For sailor Moreira, a gold-medal prize of $50,000 if eventually offered would support at least half a year's training in Uruguay, she said.

Back at the rugby training ground, team captain Diego Ardao, 28, who was leading the warm-up, was not convinced a financial incentive would alter local attitudes towards the Games, although he generally supported the reward.

"Everyone here who competes does so for more transcendental reasons than money," Ardao said. "More for the feeling of pride in representing your country", and, as his team get to say this year, "Wow! I was able to play in an Olympic Games."

(Reporting by Lucinda Elliott; Editing by Clare Fallon)