Track and Field Gold Medalists Will Get $50k Prize Money at Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Jamaicans will be looking forward to the Paris 2024 Games more eagerly given the added incentive of payouts to track and field athletes, starting this year, given the fact that athletes from the island usually dominate the track events. Notably, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has long upheld the tradition of not offering prize money at the Olympics, a testament to the event’s amateur origins.

Notwithstanding, many nations and their respective sports bodies have historically rewarded their medalists. For instance, at the Tokyo 2021 Summer Games, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee granted $37,500 to each gold medal winner. Meanwhile, Singapore’s National Olympic Council has pledged a substantial $1m for Olympic gold, a milestone reached by only one Singaporean athlete to date.

In a groundbreaking development for the Olympic Games, World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, announced on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the unprecedented initiative. For the first time in Olympic history, athletes at the Paris 2024 Games will earn prize money, with $50,000 being awarded to each gold medalist in track and field.

This initiative, heralding a significant shift from the Olympics’ amateur roots, will encompass all 48 events in the men’s, women’s, and mixed categories, including relay teams who will share the prize. Furthermore, plans are underway to extend monetary rewards to silver and bronze medalists starting from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Sebastian Coe, the President of World Athletics, elucidated that this initiative is a gesture of acknowledgment towards the athletes, who are pivotal to the Olympic spectacle and significantly contribute to the revenue generated. The prize money will be sourced from the Olympic revenue allocated to World Athletics by the IOC.

However, this move has stirred the dynamics within the Olympic community, as World Athletics only notified the IOC of its decision on the morning of the announcement. The IOC, in response, clarified that the allocation of Olympic revenue falls under the discretion of individual sports’ governing bodies and highlighted its practice of redistributing 90% of its income to support athletes and sports organizations globally.

This pioneering decision by World Athletics to introduce prize money in track and field at the Paris 2024 Olympics marks a momentous shift, symbolising a departure from the Games’ amateur past and stepping into a new era where athletes’ contributions are tangibly rewarded.