The Government of Jamaica will be giving grants to each member of Jamaica’s team to the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, France.

The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, made the revelation in a news conference on Monday: “I have J$45M allocated to provide Appreciation Grants to members of Jamaica’s delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The Minister said the money was being disbursed directly to 66 athletes, including one Paralympian, and 21 athlete support personnel who formed Jamaica’s delegation to the games.

Minister Grange said the Appreciation Grants was “in addition to over twenty million dollars disbursed to athletes under the Athletes Assistance Programme” as they prepared for the Paris Games.

Junior athletes who competed at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru will also receive gift vouchers totalling J$760,000 from the Ministry.

The Minister was speaking at the news conference to announce the Jamaica leg of the new global athletics league, Grand Slam Track, being led by the former World and Olympic champion and record holder, Michael Johnson.

Grand Slam Track will feature 96 of the best runners in the world competing in four track events across four cities each year.

National 100m hurdles record holder Ackera Nugent, two-time World Championships 400m hurdles bronze medalist Rushell Clayton and Olympic finalist Roshawn Clarke have all been confirmed to take part.

Minister Grange said Grand Slam Track was a welcomed addition to the sports calendar and the event fits well into “the government’s deliberate sports development thrust which aims to position Jamaica as the best country to participate in, watch and talk about sport.”

She said the event is an example of the outcome that the Administration is trying to achieve by “mak[ing] Jamaica a venue for International Sports — for competition and for hosting meetings of international sports federations.”

The Grand Slam Track league will begin with the Kingston event at the National Stadium from April 4-6, 2025.