Zimbabwe President Mugabe gives US based swimmer $100,000

[Natty]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080829/sp_nm/olympics_zimbabwe_coventry_dc_2

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080829/2008_08_29t123714_450x340_us_olympics_zimbabwe_coventry.jpg?x=400&y=302&q=85&sig=tf29CZ0cxNZxOxptX_eEKw--

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday handed the country's only Olympic medalist in Beijing a $100,000 cash reward for her performance at the games.

Swimmer Kirsty Coventry smashed the world record to win gold in the women's 200 meters backstroke. She also captured three silver medals.

Mugabe handed the U.S-based swimmer the cash at a ceremony in Harare carried live on state television.

"Our national spirit must exude joy and pleasure and say you have done well, daughter of Zimbabwe. We are proud of you, we wish you well. She's our golden girl ... take care of her," he said at the ceremony.

The U.S. dollars, scarce in a country struggling with an economic crisis marked by a severe shortage of foreign currency, were carried in a briefcase by Zimbabwe's central bank governor.

Other members of Zimbabwe's Olympic team received between $2,000 and $10,000 each.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsty_Coventry

[StockGlock23]

Free money from Zimbabwe???


I figure the briefcase has a cashier's check for 100 Grand and she had to send 50 Grand via Western Union to get it.

[srhoades]

I've never understood why you could not be a citizen of a country but represent them in the olympics. I guess outsourcing knows no limits.


Edit:

Ok, I actually read the wiki article, she was born in Zimbabwe.
And has their currency gained value? According to the current markets 100,000 US = 3,466,542 Zimbabwe Dollars.

[Retseh]

Perhaps if she had a farm he could hand that back to her too.

[goldenlight]

Doesn't this mean that by accepting this money, from the government, no less, she can never compete in a non-professional event ever again?

[fairfax1]

Hope she got paid in our dollars and not theirs.....

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi:
100,000.00 ZWD = 2,826.54 USD
Zimbabwe Dollars United States Dollars
1 ZWD = 0.0282654 USD 1 USD = 35.3790 ZWD

[mr00jimbo]

100,000 in Zimbabwe won't get you a piece of bread LOL

[PBCounty]

That's great....big time money for demonstrating recreational activity - I am sure the hard workers and real pillars of the country are satisfied with the decision.

[prism]

I've never understood why you could not be a citizen of a country but represent them in the olympics. I guess outsourcing knows no limits.




We had a guy accept citizenship here and then run in the Olympics for his former country in 2004.

I was not happy to see him on the team this year.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/lagat-a-runner-without-a-.shtml

The Chicago Tribune reported, and Lagat later confirmed, he was actually a U.S. citizen when he won the silver medal for Kenya in Athens, which could lead to his losing the medal.

The Kenyan constitution says its nationals lose citizenship when they become citizens of another country and the Olympic Charter requires athletes to be citizens of the country they represent.

[Atlas]

.......

[vote Republican]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

"By the beginning of July 2008, official figures put the inflation rate at 355 000 percent[23] and with some independent estimates as high as 8,500,000 percent.[24] By July 4th, 2008 at 5PM, a bottle of beer cost $100 billion Zimbabwean dollars, but an hour later, the price had gone up to $150 billion; the Los Angeles Times further reported on July 15th, 2008 that the printing presses were running out of paper to print the money, and it was feared that because of human rights concerns, Germany would cut off the supply of paper and the software license for creating designs for ever higher denominations of currency. [25] On July 16, the official inflation rate was reported by Zimbabwe's central bank as 2.2 million percent.[26]

On 19 July 2008, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced plans to introduce a Z$100 billion bank note.[27]"

[eisman]

100,000.00 ZWD = 2,826.54 USD
Zimbabwe Dollars United States Dollars
1 ZWD = 0.0282654 USD 1 USD = 35.3790 ZWD

NOTE: That's AFTER they restructured the ZD by taking off 10 zeros! Prior to 1 August (this year) $1US=$10,000,000,000!

[rock_jock]

100,000 in Zimbabwe won't get you a piece of bread eisman is correct. They did restructure the monetary system. A few months ago a loaf of bread cost $200 Billion dollars.

[NYC Drew]

NOTE: That's AFTER they restructured the ZD by taking off 10 zeros! Prior to 1 August (this year) $1US=$10,000,000,000!
:rofl:

[Natty]

She received the money in US dollars, cash, in a briefcase.

"The U.S. dollars, scarce in a country struggling with an economic crisis marked by a severe shortage of foreign currency, were carried in a briefcase by Zimbabwe's central bank governor."

[eisman]

What's sad is that Zimbabwe used to be one of the best economies in the world. Stable, growing, and able to support the population. They were a food exporter, and had a high literacy rate.

Mugabe's racist policies destroyed the country!

And NO ONE wants to say anything (or better yet do anything) about it because, 1) he's black and can't be accused of raciam, 2) the country is tenatively a democracy, and 3) all the African governments are afraid if the UN (or anybody else) makes a change there they would be next on the block.

Darfur would be hard to do anything about (logistically), but Zimbabwe is a whole lot easier. Unfortunately the endemic corruption in their (and International) politics are going to create a worse situation. Wait until he dies and the various army factions fight over what's left. Rawanda is going to look like a minor fight compared to what's brewing there.

[cgwahl]

Mugabe probably gets a ton of money to feed his people from governments. I'm sure he can afford to part with $100,000 US.

[eisman]

Mugabe probably gets a ton of money to feed his people from governments.
Yes, and no.

Zimbabwe gets foreign aid from a lot of sources; the EU is the biggest donor. The US has voted them money EVERY YEAR. This does not count food supplies, which the country can no longer exist without.

Mugabe took Millions (over $5 from England alone) with the promise that he would not allow "reappopriation" of lands owned by colonial decendants. He kept the funds and let his "troops" remove those people anyways.

Earlier this year he halted all distribution of foreign aid until after the elections, in an effort to remove the guy (who had beaten him in an earlier election) from power. His rival withdrew, Mugabe got re-elected, and then he allowed his countrymen access to food. (The shelves in the stores were empty for weeks.)

Want to know where they're headed? Look to Somalia. If there was ever an excuse for genocide...