In a historic move, World Athletics has announced plans to award prize money to gold medalists in track and field events at the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris, marking a significant departure from traditional Olympic practices.
A total of $2.4 million has been allocated for prize money at the 2024 Games, with each gold medalist set to receive $50,000. Additionally, gold medal-winning relay teams will split a collective $50,000 among themselves. While initially limited to gold medalists, World Athletics intends to extend prize money to silver and bronze medalists starting from the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Funding for the prize money will be drawn from the Olympic revenue share provided by the International Olympic Committee to World Athletics.
The decision reflects a broader shift in the Olympic landscape, which has evolved from amateur-only competitions to include professional athletes since 1988. Today, many Olympic competitors are full-time professionals who earn income from their sport year-round. Notably, track and field athletes, long celebrated as Olympic stars, have historically not received direct financial rewards based on their performance despite their prominence in the games. Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, emphasized the importance of recognizing athletes’ contributions to the success of the games. He stated: “We want to recognize that the revenue share that we receive is in large part because our athletes are the stars of the show.”
