aThousands of Olympians will compete for the podium in Paris, but some who come out on top will take home more than just a gold medal.
While the Olympics bestow enormous glory and fame on the winners in sports history, they have traditionally not offered the huge, flashy prize money that is handed out in other competitions.
But that doesn't mean Olympic medalists can't make money.
While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn't offer monetary prizes for winners, it doesn't prohibit governments, associations or sports federations from giving cash or other prizes to athletes — and this year several federations made the landmark decision to do just that at the Paris Games.
World Athletics, the international governing body of athletics, announced in April that it would award $50,000 to Olympic track and field gold medalists, the first such move by a sports federation, and in May, the International Boxing Association, which was stripped of its recognition by the IOC last year over financial and governance concerns, said it would award boxing gold medalists $100,000, “setting a clear example for many of how international federations should treat their champions.”
The announcement has been controversial. Other federations have argued that such a move “undermines the values of the Olympic spirit” and is unfair to sports that cannot afford to hand out prize money. The IOC has said federations should focus on reducing inequality within sports, rather than favoring winners. Meanwhile, sports organizations and athletes have defended the benefits of rewarding top performers, who drive publicity and revenue for the Olympics and each sport, and called for more prize money to go to winners in all Olympic sports.
“While it's impossible to put a market value on the dedication and focus it takes to win an Olympic medal or represent your country at the Olympics, we believe it's important to start somewhere and ensure that a portion of the revenue generated by athletes at the Olympic Games goes directly back to the people who make the Olympic Games a global spectacle,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in April.
In addition to select federations that pay prize money to winners, some countries give bonuses to athletes who bring home medals, but the prize money on offer varies widely. Here are some of the rewards that Olympic winners can earn:
cash
Saudi Arabian authorities have paid 5 million riyals (about $1.33 million), perhaps the largest single payment for an Olympic medal, to karate athlete Tareq Hamedi after he narrowly missed out on a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and had to settle for silver after being disqualified for an illegal kick.
Other wealthy Gulf states, such as Bahrain and Qatar, have a history of luring foreign athletes on lucrative terms and are known to offer big paydays in exchange for sporting medals. In 2005, Qatar famously offered top South African swimmer Roland Schoeman a multimillion-dollar contract that included a bonus of 1 million rand (more than $50,000) for each Olympic medal or world title he won, but Schoeman ultimately rejected the offer.
A Hong Kong gold medalist at the Paris Olympics will stand to receive the largest prize of HK$6 million (more than US$750,000) as part of the city's Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, backed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city's official gambling organiser.
Similarly, Singapore, through its Major Games Prize Programme, which is largely sponsored by the National Lottery Commission, awards S$1 million (over US$700,000) to individual winners, S$1.5 million to winners in team events (such as track and field relays and tennis doubles), and S$2 million to winners in team sports (such as basketball and football). It also awards 50% of the aforementioned amounts to silver medallists and 25% to bronze medallists. But so far, only one Singaporean has won the top prize: swimmer Joseph Schooling, who won the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming Singapore's first and only gold medallist.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Olympic gold medalists receive prize money of NT$20 million (more than US$600,000) and a lifetime monthly stipend of NT$125,000 (about US$4,000) under the government's medal system.
Other governments that have offered (or promised to offer) six-figure prizes to Olympic winners include Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Italy, the Philippines, Hungary, Kosovo, Estonia and Egypt.
In some cases, athletes receive bonuses from both the government and national sports bodies: the Indian government pays 7.5 million rupees (about $90,000) to Olympic gold medalists, and the Indian Olympic Association pays an additional 10 million rupees (about $120,000).
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee's Operation Gold program pays $37,500 to Olympic gold medalists, $22,500 to silver medalists, and $15,000 to bronze medalists. National sports organizations also have their own programs to reward athletes: USA Wrestling's Living the Dream Medal Fund offers $250,000 for an Olympic gold medal, and USA Swimming's $75,000.
Cars, houses, even cows
In some countries, winning players are often awarded lavish prizes, ranging from luxury cars to apartments, in addition to cash.
Malaysian authorities have promised to gift any athlete who brings home a medal in Paris a foreign-made car, while in Kazakhstan, Olympic winners are legally entitled to an apartment, the size of which depends on the colour of their medal.
After Chinese sports shooter Yi Shilin won the gold medal in the air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics, authorities in Guangdong province, where she lives, reportedly gifted her a prize of 7.65 million yuan (more than $1 million), a car worth $30,000, and custom-made liquor. Other Chinese athletes have also received expensive new homes from real estate companies, according to local media.
When Indonesian badminton gold medallists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu returned home after the Tokyo Olympics, local officials and entrepreneurs showered them with gifts including cows, houses and even a meatball restaurant, in addition to a cash bonus from the Indonesian government.
Meanwhile, Austria's Olympic gold medallists have previously received 17,000 euros (more than $18,000) worth of Philharmonic coins, a popular bullion coin named after the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
In Russia, Olympic champions are typically awarded a prize of 4 million rubles ($45,300), as well as expensive foreign cars, apartments, honorary titles and a lifetime salary. Olympic victory often translates into more intangible success, and many famous athletes, including wrestler Alexander Karelin, figure skater Irina Rodnina and gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, have gone into politics after retiring from sports.
“In our country, success at the Olympics is a direct path to parliament and power,” wrote a 2016 article in the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
In some cases, simply qualifying for the Olympics is enough to receive compensation: Iraq's football team and weightlifter Ali Ammar Yasser each received land, a monthly salary, and a bonus of 10 million Iraqi dinars (more than $7,000) after qualifying for Paris.
Nothing but pride
Britain, along with countries such as Norway and Sweden, does not offer any cash rewards to Olympic medallists.
Some players have stated that they should be paid, while others believe that no compensation is necessary.
“All of the gold medallists in athletics have the capacity to earn a significant amount of money before Paris and of course after,” British Olympic gold medallist rower Sir Steve Redgrave told the BBC after reports that World Athletics would offer prize money to winners. “So it's giving money to people who already have money.”
Meanwhile, Norwegian Olympic gold medalist hurdler Karsten Warholm, who praised the World Athletics Championships' measures, stressed that the value of an Olympic victory often runs deeper than the monetary prize. “The Olympics are not about money, so my motivation to win remains the same,” she told Reuters. “For me personally the gold medal is much more valuable.”
