World Athletics introduces prize money at Paris Olympics for gold medalists

World Athletics has announced that track and field gold medallists at the upcoming Paris Olympics will be awarded prize money. With it, track and field has become the first sport to introduce prize money at the Olympics. All gold medallists at Paris Olympics would be paid $50,000 by the global body.

The governing body of athletics said it was setting aside $2.4 million to pay the gold medalists across the 48 events on the program. In the relay events, the teams will split the $50,000 between them. Prize money will be introduced for silver and bronze medal winners from 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Olympic gold medalists will still earn less prize money than they would at events like the World Championships. Last year’s edition in Budapest paid out prize money down to eighth place with $70,000 on offer for individual gold medalists. Athletics began paying prize money to gold medallists at the 1997 world championships.

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“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, 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,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement.

“We are now in a position to also fund gold medal performances for athletes in Paris, with a commitment to reward all three medallists at the LA28 Olympic Games.”

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The prize money will come out of the share of revenue that that the IOC distributes to World Athletics and other governing bodies of individual sports.

The minimum criteria for the athletes to be rewarded is that they have to pass “the usual anti-doping procedures” at the event, World Athletics added.

In response, the IOC said it was up to each sport’s governing body to decide how it spends its share of Olympic revenue.

“The IOC redistributes 90% of all its income, in particular to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs),” the IOC said. “This means that, every day, the equivalent of $4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world. It is up to each IF and NOC to determine how to best serve their athletes and the global development of their sport.”

The modern Olympics originated as an amateur sports event and the International Olympic Committee does not award prize money. However, many medalists are rewarded for their effort from their respective countries, national sports bodies or from sponsors.

For example, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee awarded $37,500 to gold medalists at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Singapore, which has only ever had one gold medallist, promises $1 million for the athlete which brings glory.

The move by World Athletics could be seen as an indicator of Coe’s intentions for the Olympics as a whole if he makes a run for the IOC presidency.

“I haven’t ruled it in, and I certainly haven’t ruled it out,” Coe said last year when asked whether he would consider running for the IOC’s top post when Thomas Bach’s term ends in 2025. The IOC typically disapproves of any public campaigning for the presidency.

‘The World has changed’

Coe said the shift to rewarding athletes financially for Olympic titles reflected that “the world had changed” since the Briton won 1500m gold medals at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

“Does this undermine the amateur ethic? Well, I’m probably the last generation to have been on the 75p meal voucher and a second-class rail ticket when competing for my own country,” Coe said.

“We’re now operating in a completely different planet from when I was competing, so it is very important that the sport recognises that change in landscape.”

Karsten Warholm, the reigning Olympic men’s 400m hurdles champion, told news agency AFP the paying of prize money was “a smart move”.

“To be honest, anything offered in terms of a prize is good for the athletes, it’s motivation,” the Norwegian said.

“These athletes work really hard and sacrifice and this sort of prize is very important.”

But Jonathan Edwards, the Briton who still holds the men’s triple jump world record he set in 1995, said the decision was “a little bit odd”.

“It’s not (World Athletics’) event, it’s the Olympics. It feels like a bit of an undercut to the IOC, who have been very strict around saying ‘we’re not going to have prize money’. Athletes who win at the Olympic Games already get rewards.”

Tony Estanguet, the chief organiser of the Paris Olympics and a triple Olympic gold medallist in canoeing, said he was not opposed to prize money: “I remember as an athlete, my only dream was to win an Olympic medal… It’s not for the money.

“You win when you earn this kind of medal. (Money) is not your first motivation. But it’s also important to make sure that the athletes will also earn some money.”