Current:Home > InvestPrize money for track & field Olympic gold medalists is 'right thing to do' -WealthMindset Learning
Prize money for track & field Olympic gold medalists is 'right thing to do'
View
Date:2025-04-12 09:01:20
PARIS – There’s extra incentive for track and field athletes to win gold at the Paris Olympics.
World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, is awarding prize money for gold medalists in Paris. They are the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic Games.
World Athletics announced on April 10 that it set aside $2.4 million from the International Olympic Committee’s revenue share allocation that it receives every four years. The money will be used to reward athletes $50,000 for winning a gold medal in each of the 48 track and field events in Paris.
"Part of our strategy going forward, and it has been for the last few years, to make sure we reward our athletes. They are the stars of the show. I think they deserve as our income grows to share an increased part of that," World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said Thursday at their Olympic press conference. "It’s the right thing to do."
➤ Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
The federation received criticism from Olympic sport bodies following its prize money announcement.
"First, for many, this move undermines the values of Olympism and the uniqueness of the Games," Association of Summer Olympic International Federations said in a statement. "One cannot and should not put a price on an Olympic gold medal and, in many cases, Olympic medalists indirectly benefit from commercial endorsements. This disregards the less privileged athletes lower down the final standings."
The International Olympic Committee doesn’t pay prize money. However, governments or national Olympic committees pay athletes who reach the podium. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee will pay $37,500 for every gold medal in Paris, $22,500 for every silver and $15,000 for each bronze.
World Athletics is committed to extend the initiative for Olympic silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Cross country at Winter Olympics?
Cross country is a sport that takes place in the winter months. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe hopes the sport can soon find a place in the Winter Olympics. Coe, who's had tentative discussions about adding cross country to the Winter Olympics, believes the inclusion of cross country will draw more attention to the sport and bring large contingents from countries in Africa to the Winter Games.
"We've had good discussions," Coe said Thursday. "I think its obvious home is the Winter (Olympics). To use a cricket analogy, there's more than an outside edge of a chance that we could probably get this across the line."
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (1364)
Related
- 51-year-old Andy Macdonald puts on Tony Hawk-approved Olympic skateboard showing
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
Ranking
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Tropical rains flood homes in an inland Georgia neighborhood for the second time since 2016
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
Recommendation
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north