For the first time this summer's Paris Olympics, some winners will take home more than gold medals.
World Athletics, track and field's governing body, said Wednesday it has established a $2.4 million prize fund to award $50,000 to gold medalists in each of the 48 track and field events scheduled for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Announced. This is the first time that a sports governing body has provided prize money to an Olympic athlete.
Although many countries and national Olympic committees offer cash prizes to medalists, World Athletics will be the first federation to give cash prizes to winners. For example, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee paid a gold medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics $37,500, according to the Associated Press.
While only gold medalists will receive prize money this year, World Athletics has announced a “firm commitment” to provide prize money to silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“It’s impossible to put a market value on the effort and focus it takes to win an Olympic medal or represent your country at the Olympics, but you can start somewhere and make sure you get a portion of the revenue generated. “We believe it is important to ensure that the achievements of athletes at the Olympic Games go directly back to those who make the Olympics a global spectacle,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement.
The prize money comes from a revenue-sharing fund that World Athletics receives every four years from the International Olympic Committee. The gold medalist in the individual event will receive the full $50,000, while the winner of the relay event will split the prize money.
