Track and field athletes who win gold at the Paris Summer Olympics will receive cash prizes for their accomplishments at the Olympics, making it the first sport to have prize money at the Olympics.
World Athletics announced in a press release that it intends to pay each gold medalist $50,000, with the relay team splitting the prize money between the four members. The organization set aside $2.4 million for his 48 track and field events at the next Olympics.
A prize system for silver and bronze medalists is scheduled to be introduced at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Funding for the prizes comes from a portion of Olympic revenues distributed by the International Olympic Committee to the World Athletics Championships. It is up to each sport's governing body to decide how to spend some of its Olympic revenue.
World Athletics President sebastian coe In the press release it states: “It is important to start somewhere and ensure that some of the revenue generated by athletes at the Olympic Games goes directly back to the people who make the Olympics a global spectacle.”
While some Olympic athletes receive compensation from their governments, the IOC has no sport-wide standards for awarding prize money. Other sports organizations, such as World Swimming, offer compensation to medalists at their own competitions, including world championships.
The move marks a shift from the Olympic Games' historic amateur nature, which traditionally did not offer prize money to medalists. Despite being the biggest sporting stage in the world, it is one of the few tournaments that many professional athletes can participate in for free.
It is currently unclear whether other sports will eventually follow World Athletics and offer prize money to Olympic medalists.
