MONTEVIDEO : 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.
FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Sailing - Women's Laser Radial - Opening Series - Enoshima Yacht Harbour - Tokyo, Japan - July 25, 2021. Isabella Maegli Aguero of Guatemala and Dolores Moreira Fraschini of Uruguay in action. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
So collecting a rental boat in Barcelona this month and driving it to Marseille to cut costs will be nothing new. National sports budgets in South America are primarily dedicated to football - the continent's favourite and most lucrative pastime. 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.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.
"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. 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.
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