World Athletics and the International Athletics Foundation (IAF) have announced that 193 athletes from 58 member federations will be offered one-time grants of USD 3000 through an Athlete Welfare Fund declared in April. These grants are to support professional athletes experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. Initially totaling USD 5,00,000 when its creation was announced on April 28, generous contributions since have made USD 6,00,000 ultimately available to athletes in need. These applications were evaluated by the IAF to ensure they met the eligibility criteria, under the oversight of an expert working group, chaired by World Athletics president Sebastian Coe," World Athletics said in a statement. The Foundation expects to begin making payments to athletes as early as the end of this week.

Source: dna June 21, 2020 14:37 UTC