Scanty insurance for injured Hungarian Olympians

In the wake of what could have been a career-ending injury to Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai in Beijing, Monday's business daily Napi Gazdasag took a closer look at the way Olympic athletes are insured.

Baranyai dislocated an elbow in competition last week, and now appears to be on the road to complete recovery. But, wrote the paper, his insurance coverage is minimal, as is coverage for all Hungarian athletes competing in Beijing.

QBE Atlasz Insurance provides insurance as a way of supporting the Hungarian Olympic Committee and Axa Insurance supplements the coverage through the National Sports Association. Their combined coverage for a fatal accident is about 9,500 euros. Athletes are offered roughly the same amount for an injury disabling them between 51 and 99 percent, which would effectively end their sports careers.

An athlete needing to unexpectedly learn a new profession requires much more assistance than that, wrote Napi Gazdasag. A broken bone will receive about EUR 12.50 in insurance coverage, it added.

The paper learned that the various sports federations simply do not have the money to properly insure their competitors.

• Email
• Save to My Caboodle