Mugabe awards Kirsty Coventry US$100 000

Mugabe awards Kirsty Coventry US$100 000

ROYAL WELCOME: Zimbabwe's Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry arrived at the Harare International Airport on Wednesday to be met by hundreds of cheering fans

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By Nelson Banya
Last updated: 29/08/2008 17:59:17
(Watch Coventry's gold medal swim VIDEO)
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe on Friday handed the country's only Olympic medalist in Beijing a US$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 Gideon Gono.

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

The cash reward is double the US$50 000 "pocket money" Mugabe gave Coventry after the 2004 Athens Olympics where she won a gold, silver and bronze medals.

Coventry and the rest of the 13-member Team Zimbabwe returned home on Wednesday to a hero's welcome.

Hundreds of cheering fans were at the Harare International Airport to receive her, and thousands more lined the streets of Harare as she paraded her medals atop an an SUV.

With Zimbabwe’s economy in turmoil and a decade-long political crisis far from resolution, Coventry’s Olympic heroics have given the country something to cheer.

The 25-year-old swimmer’s parents live in Zimbabwe, but she spends more time in the United States where she attends college and especially to access better training facilities. - Reuters/Staff Reporter

ROAD SHOW: Coventry waves from the back of a truck on a parade through the streets of Harare
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