If you’ve been watching the Summer Olympics in Paris as events roll out on the 2024 schedule, you may have noticed the cute way athletes who win gold often “bite” their medals for a fun photo opp. You may have even seen the mystery box that have been given to Olympic winners in the first, second and third positions on the podiums. But have you ever wondered how much Olympic winners make?
While the International Olympic Committee gives out nada when it comes to monetary compensation for winners of events, there’s plenty of money to go around in the form of endorsement contracts, appearances, and more. Plus, if you do win a medal, a lot of countries will pay the athletes out of pocket themselves. Here’s a rundown of what winners like Noah Lyles and Simone Biles can expect.
How Much Can U.S. Olympians Earn?
The U.S. is one of several countries that do provide compensation for winners of medals. If you win a gold medal, the United States pays out $38,000. Silver medalists can expect to earn $23,000 and bronze medalists can expect to win $15,000. Looking at it one way, that’s a hefty amount for trials plus running what is sometimes a very short actual event. But given the time and effort put in to train ahead of this one competition, looking at it the other way, it’s really not a lot of money at all.
In terms of payouts to Olympic winners, the U.S. actually falls near the bottom of the list. We pay out more than Denmark, Australia, Laos, Canada and the Netherlands. Australia, for example, only pays out $13,000 to its gold medal winners and $7,000 to its bronze winners. In comparison, NBC is allegedly paying Snoop like $500,000 (maybe even a day) just to cover the events.
However, it's worth pointing out there are also myriad countries that don’t pay their athletes anything at all. You're in it for the glory, and endorsements, I guess.
How Much Did Simone Biles Make For Her Olympics Medals?
Another point worth mentioning is the U.S. will pay the same amount for every medal earned. Say you are cyclist Kristen Faulkner, who’s won two gold medals in the 2024 Olympics. She’s not taking home $38,000 for two medals, she’s reportedly taking home $78,000 from the coffers of the United states.
The same is true for Simone Biles, who won a team all-around medal in gymnastics, but also pulled through with a gold in the individual all-around, a gold in the individual vault, and a silver in the individual floor exercises. That’s $137,000 overall.
There are still some events left, including Noah Lyles and co. in the 200m, so some payouts for these major athletes are in flux until the end of the weekend, but for athletes who are good at multiple events, there is definitely some money to be made this way.
We're trying to do better at getting money and eyeballs on athletes in nich sports too. for example, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and others are looking into ways to get attention on track and field events in between the four-year Olympics gaps moving forward. (He has a female-led track event called Athlos coming to the U.S. in September.)
Still, The U.S. Is Not Remotely The Best Place To Live If You Want To Get Paid For A Gold Medal
While $137,000 is not a number to scoff at, honestly there are better places to live than the U.S. if you want to make money from Olympics events. Hong Kong is actually the country with the best payout for winners. (Editor Note: this will all be in U.S. dollar increments.) A report at CNBC notes Hong Kong pays out a whopping $768,000 to gold medal winners, $384,000 to silver medal winners and $192,000 to bronze medal winners. That’s more than $6 million in Hong Kong dollars.
Other countries that pay out more than $200,000 to gold medal winners include Singapore (at $745,000), Indonesia (at $300,000), Israel (at $271,000), Republic of Kazakhstan (at $250,000) and Malaysia (at $216,000). Significant payments are also given to silver and bronze medal winners in these countries, though in Malaysia the gap is wide. A silver medalist will earn $65,000 while a bronze medalist only earns $22,000.
In addition to this general monetary amount, athletes can earn money from endorsements, and many of them have bonuses set up if they pull through with a medal and more. The World Athletics foundation is also giving out monetary awards for track and field athletes this year, as well, so there are additional sources of revenue that are sometimes unexpected. But for many of these athletes, visibility can be tough, particularly if they are competitors who are that one level down from elite. Hopefully, that will change in the future.
