'Team Outcast' Funding Claims Rejected By Australian Olympic Committee

The Australian Olympic Committee "has rejected claims" from a group of Winter Olympians dubbing themselves "Team Outcast" that they "have not received funding support for the Sochi Games," according to Nicole Jeffery of THE AUSTRALIAN. Olympic half-pipe Gold Medalist Torah Bright and fellow snowboarders Scotty James, Jarryd Hughes and Belle Brockhoff "have been tagging Twitter posts #teamoutcast in the past month." James: "We're not part of a team and we are not helped along the way in our journey to the Games or any other events." The AOC on Tuesday released details of the funding given to all four athletes. Australian Olympic team spokesperson Mike Tancred said both Bright and James "had been offered and had declined OWIA scholarships, but all four athletes had state institute scholarships." He said that Bright had also received A$25,000 ($22,000) in medal incentive payments over four years, and A$29,000 from the Olympic Solidarity fund (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/29).