How Much Do Olympians Make for Winning Gold Medals?

Most people know that most Olympians must be considered amateurs in order to qualify for the Games. Outside of basketball, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rules in place that dictate that most athletes, including swimmers, track and field athletes, gymnasts, and more aren’t considered professionals.

The most important aspect of maintaining that amateur status is that they are not paid members of a team in a professional league.

However, this doesn’t mean that countries can’t offer financial incentives for athletes who achieve the highest level of success. With this in mind, many countries offer their athletes money for winning gold medals.

Most of those countries also offer compensation for athletes who win silver and bronze. These cash contributions are offered by the national government, National Olympic Committees, and even through private donors.

While most people think of the United States as the pinnacle of professional athletics, a title that the US has earned in many respects, there are actually countries that offer their Olympians more money than the United States of America.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Do Olympians make money?”, the answer is yes.

Olympians who reach the podium, especially those who win gold, are typically compensated by their home country. While the IOC does not and cannot pay athletes, there are no rules in place that prevent countries from providing financial compensation for their most successful Olympic stars.

Learn more about this practice today, and find out how the United States compares when it comes to giving athletes money for winning gold medals.

Does Every Country Pay Athletes?

Before we dive into the financials of how countries pay athletes for succeeding on the Olympic stage, let’s take a look at some countries that offer rewards to their Olympians without giving them money.

Kazakhstan

One country that is going a bit “outside the box” when it comes to rewarding medalists is Kazakhstan. According to the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, athletes who win a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics will receive an apartment.

Gold medal winners get a three-bedroom apartment, silver medalists get a two-bedroom apartment, and bronze medalists can earn a one-bedroom apartment. This offer is also in place for athletes in the Paralympics and the Deaflympics.

South Korea

South Korea doesn’t offer a cash reward for medalists, either. Instead, athletes who earn a medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics will receive a government-sponsored pension.

The amount of money that’s provided in that pension account depends on what medal an athlete wins.

Malaysia

Malaysia, a nation that only sent 26 athletes to the 2024 Olympics, is offering its athletes a mix of cash and other rewards. These rewards also come with a bit of a catch.

Not only do medal winners earn a “foreign-made car,” but there is also money on the line. Malaysia has never won gold in the Olympics, and to motivate its athletes, the country is offering RM6mil.

If one of Malaysia’s badminton players had been able to capture gold, they would have received RM7mil. Those figures represent between $1.3 and $1.5 million in USD.

While Malaysia was not able to capture gold in their badminton tournament, Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh won the bronze medal, which earned them each a Tiggo 7 Pro from Chery, a Chinese automaker.

Great Britain

Great Britain isn’t paying athletes directly for medaling. However, Great Britain’s Olympians can expect to receive a $36,000 annual stipend.

Indonesia

According to multiple sources, Indonesia paid its 2021 gold medal badminton team of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu with five cows, a meatball restaurant, and a new house.

This was in addition to a cash prize totaling roughly $350,000.

Athlete Sponsorships

Athletes are also allowed to make money through sponsorships. According to Forbes, Simone Biles, who recently became the most decorated American gymnast in history, has earned roughly $7 million in endorsements.

In the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, it’s reported that American athletes made more than $5.5 million in endorsement deals. People who don’t approve of this system point to how heavily it favors superstar athletes.

There are also some incentives in place for athletes based on which sports they medal in.

For instance, World Athletics, the governing body that oversees track and field competitions announced in April that athletes who medal would be paid from a $2.4 million prize pool.

Gold medal athletes in the 48 track and field competitions will receive $50,000. This also applies to relay teams, where each athlete gets a share of the $50,000. As of 2024, only gold medalists receive a payout, but that’s expected to change for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) announced in May that it would be handing out more than $3 million in rewards.

Gold medalists receive $100,000. The athlete gets $50,000 while their host country’s NOC gets $25,000 and their coach gets $25,000. Silver medalists get $50,000, with half going to the athlete and the other half being split between their coach and their nation’s NOC, while bronze medalists earn $25,000, half of which goes to the boxer.

Now that we’ve discussed some payment structures that involve non-monetary bonuses, endorsements, and sport-specific payouts, let’s take a look at some countries that pay their athletes directly, and how the United States stacks up.

How Much Olympians Make for Winning Medals

As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the United States does not directly incentivize Olympic medal winners.

However, this doesn’t mean that the National Olympic Committee doesn’t offer some sort of reward for medaling.

Gold medalists receive $37,500, silver medalists get $22,500, and bronze medalists get $15,000.

This payout system puts the United States close to the middle when it comes to how athletes get paid for winning Olympic medals. For the sake of clarity, all figures have been converted to US dollars.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is paying its athletes more than any other country for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Gold medalists will take home a staggering $ 769,558 while silver medalists earn $384,279, and bronze medalists get $192,139.

Denmark

Of the nations that pay for medals at the Olympics, Denmark is paying the least. Gold medalists from Denmark will get $15,962, silver medalists earn $11,971, and bronze medalists can expect to receive $7,981.

Canada

Canada, our neighbor to the north, isn’t paying Olympians much more than Denmark. Gold medalists from Canada will receive $16,000 while silver and bronze medalists will get $12,000 and $8,000 respectively.

Singapore

Singapore has been one of the highest-paying countries when it comes to Olympic medalists since 1990. Gold medalists from Singapore earn S$1,000,000, which translates to $737,000. Silver medalists will earn $369,000 while bronze medalists will get $184,000.

France

France, the host country for the 2024 Summer Olympics has a program in place that pays gold medalists $86,670, silver medalists $43,335, and bronze medalists $21,667.

The Cost of Greatness

For many of the countries represented in the 2024 Summer Olympics, the chance to have an athlete stand on the podium while their national anthem plays and their flag waves is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

With that in mind, many countries, including those that you don’t often think of as financial powerhouses have taken significant strides to incentivize success.

When it comes to how the United States stacks up against the other countries of the world, the US is close to the middle. This fact is largely attributed to the endorsement opportunities made available to American athletes.

What we do know is that there is a price for immortality and a cost of greatness. Financial incentives have proven to be great motivators for athletes who perform on the biggest sports stage in the world.