The beneficiaries will receive $5,000 (€4,400/£3,900) towards the running costs of their projects.

Five projects have been awarded 2018 Service to Society grants, which encourage athletes to make a positive difference in their communities and run projects in line with Olympic values.

The five projects awarded funding are each based in a different continent.

The Young Wrestling Volunteers Project in Liberia is one of the recipients as it aims to increase access to sport in slums and other underprivileged neighbourhoods.

Impacting Lives through Table Tennis in Peru promotes children's participation in schools, while Hope through Sport is a project in The Philippines which runs sports clinics for street children.

The European recipient is Olympic Week in Ukraine, which promotes Olympic values alongside the National Olympic Committee.

Fiji is Oceania's representative as the Social Inclusion and Athlete Engagement project looks to increase the number of young people participating in sport and physical activities.

The other five Olympian led projects have received new Service to Society grants which support the development of Olympians.

Senegal's Olympians Leadership Programme teaches Olympians the skills to manage charity or business projects.

OLY CANADA is an online community for Canadian Olympians as they transition into a different period of their lives.

In South Korea, Enhancing the Role of Olympians runs workshops to build relationships between Olympians and sports leaders.

Ignite Olympians is based in the Cook Islands while Australia's Women's Olympian Network enables female Olympians to seek new opportunities after their competitive careers.

The WOA have also awarded development grants to a record 26 National Olympians Associations, in order to help fund activities and administration costs.

"Every year, the WOA Grants Programme increases in reach and impact and this year we are proud to report that we have achieved our biggest-ever funding programme with a record number of grants distributed," said WOA President, Joël Bouzou.

"We are thrilled to assist such worthy Olympian-led projects with Service to Society and Service to Olympians grants, while also supporting our National Olympians Associations through our annual NOA development grant programme.

"WOA's mission is to be to be of service to Olympians, empowering them to help make the world a better place.

"We firmly believe that Olympians have the ability to make a genuine difference, spreading the spirit and practice of Olympism to drive positive social change.

"The WOA Grants Programme is one of the ways we can help them achieve this and we look forward to following this year’s grant recipients with interest as the projects come to fruition in the coming months."