Fencer Nelli Differt: EOK sportsperson's wage not enough to live on
Fencer Nelli Differt, Estonia's most successful olympian at summer's games in Paris, has returned to work as a physiotherapist, Õhtuleht reported.
Explaining that while she needed a change, Differt, who was just outside the medals at the women's individual epee event, said "the main reason was that it's impossible to live on the Estonian Olympic Committee's B-level, ie. second-tier, wage.
"So this step was taken for economic reasons," Differt added. In Estonia, athletes who rank between are classified as B-level athletes.
Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) confers "B-level" (from an A-C scale) on all athletes who place 4th and 10th at the Olympics, 4th to 8th at the World Championships, or 2nd to 3rd at the European Championships, in their chosen disciplines. B-level competitors get a monthly wage of €1,600 gross, plus €1,650 in preparation support.
Differt, 34, had previously worked at the Lääne County Hospital (Läänemaa haigla) for a total of eight years before fully dedicating herself to fencing, starting 2023.
Differt was the only fencer to represent Estonia in Paris; three years earlier in Tokyo, the foursome of Katrina Lehis, Julia Beljajeva, Erika Kirpu, and Irina Embrich took gold in the women's epee team event, while Lehis won bronze in the individual event as well.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
