Track and field athletes will be paid for winning gold at the upcoming Olympics. World Athletics, the global body for track and field, made the announcement this week.
In a world first, Olympians who win gold in categories like sprinting, hurdles, and pole vault will receive $US50,000 ($AU77,000) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Relay teams will receive the same amount “to be shared among the team”.
World Athletics said it plans to boost funding to include cash prizes for silver and bronze winners at the 2028 LA Olympics.
Background
The 2024 Olympic Games will be hosted in Paris, with the Opening Ceremony scheduled for 26 July.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the global authority responsible for overseeing the Games.
It provides funding to sporting bodies, including World Athletics.
Prize money
In an announcement this week, World Athletics said it has reserved $US2.4 million ($AU3.7 million) for prize money at the Paris Olympics.
The funds will be spent across gold medal winners from 48 track and field events.
It will be the first time an international federation has awarded prize money at an Olympic Games.
“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal… I think it is important we start somewhere.”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe
Australia
Australians who win a medal in Paris will be eligible for funding from the Australian Olympic Committee’s ‘Medal Incentive Fund’ (MIF).
The scheme is an incentive to keep athletes in the sport at an elite level. It provides funding to athletes the year after they win an Olympic medal, and for every year they stay in their sport until the next Games.
For gold medallists, that incentive is $20,000, silver is $15,000, and bronze is $10,000. The Committee insists MIF is “not a reward payment”.
An athlete who wins multiple medals at one Olympics cannot receive more than one payment.
To receive the payment, “athletes must maintain appropriate training regimes with the intention of gaining national selection” for future competitions.
The AOC has reserved $9.2 million for its 2024 MIF.
Some Australian Olympians also receive income through sponsorship deals.
