The Olympics represent the biggest heights of many athletes’ careers, offering them a global stage and the chance to etch their names into history. While Olympic medals – gold, silver, and bronze – are the traditional rewards, financial incentives have not always been part of the equation.
As thousands of athletes vie for podium finishes in Paris, some top finishers will go home with more than just medals. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not directly award monetary prizes, various national governments, organizations, and sports federations have stepped in to offer cash rewards.
The Paris 2024 Olympics will officially begin with the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, and conclude on Sunday, August 11. The estimated cost of the 2024 Olympic Games is $8.2 billion, according to WalletHub report. An estimated $3.2 billion was spent on infrastructure investments.
IOC’s Stance on Prize Money
In May, IOC President Thomas Bach stated it is “common practice” for athletes to receive prize money from National Olympic Committees (NOCs), governmental bodies, or sponsors for their achievements at the Olympic Games. Bach recalled his own memories of this process, recounting how he and his teammates received prize money from the German NOC for the fencing gold medal they won at the 1976 Games.
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With the IOC focused on distributing its funding to further the development of sports around the world, Bach said it falls upon the NOCs and International Federations (IFs) – who he claimed are the primary beneficiaries of the “commercial success of the Games” – to choose how they incentivize their athletes and provide the best conditions for their delegations to perform in.
“The NOCs, they should use this money to provide to the Olympic Games the best athletes in their national delegation and to support them so that they can compete at the highest possible level in the Games,” Bach said. “And they do so, and then many of them reward the athletes with prize money for winning medals or diplomas or whatever. And this is absolutely in line and a fine and common practice for decades.”
Bach continued: “The role of the IFs, according to this common understanding, is that they have to make every effort to try at least to close the gap between athletes coming from privileged countries or NOCs and from less privileged countries or NOCs. They are, in this way, part of the solidarity effort of the IOC to do everything to create, in the best possible way, equal conditions for all athletes around the world and to help them develop, have good coaches, and good training conditions.”
Federation Initiatives for Prize Money
“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in April, “I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is.”
This year, some federations have made groundbreaking decisions to reward athletes with cash prizes at the Paris Games. World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, announced in April that Olympic gold medalists in track and field events will receive a $50,000 reward—the first of its kind for a sports federation. In May, the International Boxing Association (IBA) followed suit, offering $100,000 to boxing gold medalists, setting a precedent for how international federations might treat their champions.
World Athletics Prize Money
World Athletics has set aside a prize pot of $2.4 million from its IOC revenue share allocation to reward athletes. Gold medalists in each of the 48 track and field events will receive $50,000, with relay teams sharing the same amount. While this initiative currently applies only to gold medalists, World Athletics aims to extend bonuses to silver and bronze medalists at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
International Boxing Association
The IBA announced a total prize pool of over $3.1 million for boxing competitions. Gold medalists will receive $100,000, with half going to the athlete and the rest split between the coach and the NOC. Silver medalists will receive $50,000, and bronze medalists $25,000, with the distribution similarly split.
These announcements have sparked controversy. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) expressed concerns, arguing that introducing prize money undermines the values of Olympism and the uniqueness of the Games. They contend that placing a price on an Olympic gold medal overlooks the indirect benefits medalists gain through commercial endorsements and disregards less privileged athletes who do not finish on the podium.
However, sporting bodies and athletes have defended the merit of rewarding top performers, who drive publicity and revenue for the Olympics and their respective sports. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe emphasized the importance of starting to directly return some of the revenues generated by athletes at the Olympic Games to those who make the Games a global spectacle.
National Government Bonuses
In addition to federations offering cash prizes, some countries also provide bonuses to medal winners, with rewards varying significantly.
Saudi Arabia
In what may well be the single largest payout for an Olympic medal, Saudi authorities awarded karate athlete Tareg Hamedi 5 million riyals (about $1.33 million) after he narrowly missed the gold—settling for silver after being disqualified over an illegal kick—at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s gold medalists, if there are any, at the Paris Olympics will get among the largest cash rewards on offer: HK$6 million (over $750,000), as part of the city’s Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city’s official betting organizer.
Singapore
Singapore, through its Major Games Award Programme that’s largely sponsored by the national lottery board, offers S$1 million (over $700,000) for individual winners, S$1.5 million for winners of team events (like athletics relays or tennis doubles), and S$2 million for winners of team sports (like basketball or soccer). It also gives 50% of the aforementioned amounts to silver medalists and 25% to bronze medalists. So far, however, only one Singaporean has ever managed to claim the top prize: swimmer Joseph Schooling, who became the city-state’s first and only gold medalist after winning the 100-meter butterfly at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s Olympic gold medalists, under a government medal program, receive NT$20 million (over $600,000) and a lifetime monthly stipend of NT$125,000 (about $4,000).
Other governments that have offered (or pledged to offer) their Olympic champions six-figure cash rewards include Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Italy, the Philippines, Hungary, Kosovo, Estonia, and Egypt.
The Ongoing Debate
As the Paris 2024 Olympics approach, the debate over prize money continues, highlighting the balance between maintaining Olympic values and rewarding the athletes who excel on the world stage.
