A medal's worth: How much did Olympic athletes make for winning a medal?

The Olympic Games are done and dusted for another four years. While every athlete will leave Paris richer for their Olympic experience, will they go home richer in the more traditional sense as well?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not pay athletes for their performance at the Games because the Games started as an amateur endeavor. However, in 1986, the Olympic Charter invited "all the world's great male and female athletes to participate."

According to the National News website, World Athletics announced that gold medalists in Paris would receive prize money, meaning track and field athletes would become the first Olympic participants to be rewarded directly by a governing body.

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A prize pot of $2.4 million (£1.8m, €2.1m) had been set aside by World Athletics to award the gold medalist of the 48 track and field events. An individual winner would receive $50,000 (£38,263,€45,821), and relay teams would split the $50,000 between their team evenly.

The Tuko website reported Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas said: "This is just done off of hopes and dreams and effort, and a lot of people don't have the same opportunity. So, to see track and field making a difference in that way is remarkable. I can't wait to see other sports follow suit."

USA Today conducted a survey and contacted the National Olympic Committees of some countries to enquire about the purse their athletes would receive at the Paris Games.

The average amount the 25 respondents said they would pay their athletes was $95,000 (£73,165, €87,060) for gold, $55,000 (£42,358, €50,403) for silver, and $39,000 (£30,036, €35,740) for bronze.

Malaysia, Morocco, and Serbia all promised their athletes over $200,000 (£154,031, €183,285) for winning a gold medal, while the US Olympic committee had broken it down to $37,500 (£28,880, €34,366) for gold, $22,500 (£17,328, €20,619) for silver, and $15,000 (£11,552, €13,746) for bronze.

Conversely, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain offered no financial reward per medal, according to Forbes, but the latter did offer a stipend of up to $36,000 (£28,000, €33,500) for each athlete to help cover the costs of their Olympic journey.

The National News reported that the International Boxing Association would award boxers for medaling at the Paris Games, despite being stripped of recognition by the IOC in 2023.

According to the IBA website, a gold medalist would receive $100,000 (£77,023, €91,647) for winning gold, $50,000 (£38,511, €45,823) for silver, and $25,000 (£19,255, €22,911) for bronze. Should all governing bodies award their athletes financially for the blood, sweat, and tears they put in towards the Olympic Games?

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