World Athletics introduces prize money for Olympic champions

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 10 (ACN) World Athletics (WA), the international governing body for the sport of athletics, will financially reward Olympic gold medallists this year, a move bound to provide an additional incentive to athletes.

In a landmark decision, WA will become the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic event, for which a prize pot of US$2.4 million (€2.209,727 million) has been ring-fenced from the International Olympic Committee’s revenue share allocation every four years. This will be used in Paris to reward athletes who win a gold medal in each of the 48 athletics events with US$50,000 (€46,036).

Relay teams will receive the same amount, to be shared among the team members.

WA also intends to extend the prize money to Olympic silver and bronze medal winners at the LA 2028 Olympic Games, albeit the amounts to be awarded have not been announced yet.

WA President Sebastian Coe commented: "The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for this entity and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognizing the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games. This is the continuation of a journey we started back in 2015, which sees all the money WA receives from the International Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games go directly back into our sport”.