Please give what you can to help family of USA Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad get to 2016 Oympics in Rio to support her!
Oh my goodness... it will cost $35k?! I've actually always wondered how families of Olympians are able to travel to far-flung places to support them. Wowza.
Someone else posted this previously It's a really great interview of Ibtihaj on the Ellen show:
http://ellentube.com/videos/0-furmver2/
I know someone that was in the paralympics..family couldn't go...they had to watch online (as did I at 4am since that is when the events were based on England time....any Olympic venue would be expensive...much more than typical tourism.
and a lot of athletes are minors....and sent off to foreign countries with the coach as the guardian if the parent can't go.
jmitw is correct, typically the cost to attend the Olympics is about 3-5 times the normal hotel rates, Paralympics is slightly less at 2-3 times. Rio hotel rates are also in USD not Brazilian currency, so there is no relief in exchange rates. Flights from EWR/NYC are running $1600+
In addition, finding tickets to other events in Rio is a challenge from outside the country because only a percentage of sports tickets were available for sale to non-Brazilian community. Tickets are not allowed to be resold and had to be ordered about 6 months ago.
This is not a new phenomenon, in Atlanta '96, housing inflation was 2x rack rate and each successive summer games has increased. Every host city sees the opportunity to cash in on a captive group of spectators.
Sadly it prices many people out of attending.
and this is after the years of expenses for the training....and often low income because so much time is spent on training...and there is no time for the athlete to work....at least with the guy in the paralympics, most of his training and equipment and other related expenses was paid for with various grants/sponsorships, fundraising..that is not the case for everyone, but his local team made the effort to get the funds while others expect families to pay the bulk of expenses....
As the saying goes: America does not send athletes to the Olympics, Americans do.
There is no governmental support for the US Olympic Committee or any of the 47 sport governing bodies such as USA Fencing. Its a compilation of private donors and corporate sponsors and the USOC itself that supports the athletes.
The trip to the games itself for the athletes is supported by the USOC, but often this is not the case for all of the international competitions in the years leading up to the Olympics. We are one of very few countries to fund sports this way and we are also one of the highest medal counts each Games. Its an imperfect system, and very successful.
I find it unfortunate that no one has visited this site for three days. Hopefully it has something to do with it being close to tax payment day. I'll try to scrounge up few bucks in the next couple of weeks. Hope others are able to do so.
Do they even know if they can get plane tickets and a place to stay? I would think everything would have been booked long ago.
There is a huge amount of hotel inventory right now, as the government had blocked hotels from reservations until about 4 weeks ago. Now the hotels are opening sales to the public directly. Also groups like CoSport have inventory for packages in Rio.
United has flights to Rio still open for the week that fencing is in competition.
LOST said:
I find it unfortunate that no one has visited this site for three days. Hopefully it has something to do with it being close to tax payment day. I'll try to scrounge up few bucks in the next couple of weeks. Hope others are able to do so.
People also don't have unlimited funds...and have to choose where to give...with so many people in NEED...many people may not be able to donate to a WANT. The family wants to go...and it is unfortunate if she doesn't family support. With the paralympian I know, I felt bad that I couldn't do anything to help his family travel....but, there is only so much people can do.
At least with the Olympics, i believe all winners get a cash prize. I don't remember exactly --it might be 25k for gold and that would really help out..especially if she also makes the next olympics...but the US paralympic athletes get nothing.
jmitw- Paralympic athletes do receive operation gold payments for medals, $5,000 for a gold. Its been this way since at least 2012.
You were correct, Olympians receive $25,000 for a gold. In addition, both groups of athletes likely qualify for direct athlete support through the USOC, the totals annually are very dependent on which sport and how that sport defines the distribution.
Funding of the two groups comes through very different sources. And not all para sports are run by their national governing body. Some are contracted to other sport management groups or are managed but he Paralympic Committee itself. This is not the case with Olympic sport, each sport has its own governing body within the US.
really, i looked into it in 2012 and the information I found said they didn't get anything..but I'm glad to hear that. But was does 'operation gold payment' mean?
I do believe all the expenses for the paralympics themselves were paid for the athletes and coaches...just not the extras like family and related expenses prior...they need very expenses equipment like specialized chairs for the specific sport..in some case the local sports teams provide for training and some expenses prior to the paralympics...one I know of puts much of the cost on the families.
I get a weekly GoFundMe email and this story is at the top. $600 more in donations since the email was written (sent an hour ago).
Nah..can't be THAT Muhammad Ali.
"$20
Muhammad Ali
2 hours ago
Go Get 'Em, Champ!!"
While it would be incredible for all of them to go, I hope the amount raised is at least enough to send her parents!!
Thought I would give it a bump.
http://patch.com/new-jersey/maplewood/maplewood-fencer-muslim-named-times-100-most-influential-list-0?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=community+corner&utm_campaign=alertI w
Her father started a gofundme.com campaign to get their family of five to Brazil for the Oympics!
No amount is too small..every dollar counts! $35K is their goal.
Please share with other communities because Ibtihaj is representing our nation!! GO TEAM USA!!!
Link to fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/muhammadfamily
Thank you for your support.