You have certainly not missed the fact that during each edition of the Olympic or Paralympic Games, we talk about scholarships for high-level athletes. What is a high-level athlete? What is a scholarship for high-level athletes and what are the criteria for obtaining one? Manibus lifts the veil on this system and tells you everything.

First of all, what is a high-level athlete?

In their quest for results on the international sports scene, the States that have made sport a real weapon of war, implement, as part of their sports policies, programs to identify athletes whose potential makes them potential chances of medals during international competitions.

This is how in France, for example, the Ministry of Sports, in consultation with sports federations, draws up an annual list of high-level athletes.

High-level athlete is a status that allows the best athletes and hopefuls to devote themselves to their sport in the best conditions. A position that has few elected officials and that often lasts only a few years. The high-level athlete is an athlete who devotes most of his time to preparing for and participating in sports competitions during an Olympiad (4-year cycle between two editions of the Olympic Games).

The high-level athlete, when still in training, can benefit from school adjustments, exemptions or exemptions from tests to enter certain schools. Employed high-level athletes can obtain schedule adjustments and authorizations of absence to participate in training and competitions. The athlete's schedule is very heavy and he often has to sacrifice part of his private life. He travels frequently for competitions, national or international.

What is a high-level athlete scholarship and how to obtain one?

A scholarship for high-level athletes is a monthly allowance granted to high-level athletes to help finance their preparation and participation in national and international sports competitions.

There are indeed several national and international mechanisms to obtain a scholarship for high-level athletes:

Ø At the national level:

- Scholarships for high-level athletes awarded by the State

- Sports patronage/sponsorship programs run by companies

Ø At the international level:

- Olympic Solidarity scholarships awarded by the International Olympic Committee on a file submitted by the National Olympic Committee.

And in Gabon, how does it work?

In our country, four national entities are involved in the development of the national system of scholarships for high-level athletes: Ministry of Sports, National Agency of Scholarships of Gabon (ANBG), National Office for the Development of Sport and Culture (ONDSC) and National Olympic Committee of Gabon (CNOG). In terms of figures, the Gabonese State has invested on average since 2021, an average of 1.5 billion FCFA per year for high-level athletes, i.e. a scholarship of 50 million FCFA for each athlete in addition to training costs and sports kit.

It should be noted, as a historical reminder, that it is since December 2021 and a reform of the ANBG that the State has decided to set up a program of around thirty sports scholarships (Sports Activities Science and Technology (STAPS) allowance, sports-study scholarship and scholarship for high-level athletes) to prepare in particular for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for which ultimately only one scholarship holder in the person of Virginia Aymard (Judo) was able to obtain a qualification.

Furthermore, an agreement is being studied between the Ministry of Sports, the ANBG and the ONDSC to improve the current system with a view to preparing well for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.