By David Williams
Track and field gold medallists at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer will each receive 50,000 US dollars (£39,400) in prize money.
World Athletics announced the 2.4million dollar (£1.89m) prize pot on Wednesday morning in a move which makes it the first international sport federation to award prize money at an Olympics.
The global governing body said the initiative also included a “firm commitment” to extend the prize money to silver and bronze medallists at the Los Angeles Games in four years’ time.
Relay medallists will split the 50,000 dollar prize across the team, World Athletics said, which could interest Wales’ top male sprinter, Jeremiah Azu.
World Athletics introduces prize money for Olympic gold medallists at Paris 2024, and all medallists from LA28.
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) April 10, 2024
The current 60m British Indoor champion could well be in the 4 x 100m relay squad for Paris this summer.
Azu, 22, is currently ranked third in Great Britain for 100m and 24th in the world.
“The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for World Athletics and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.
“This is the continuation of a journey we started back in 2015, which sees all the money World Athletics receives from the International Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games go directly back into our sport.”
🌎 World Athletics has become the first international sports governing body to award prize money at the Olympics with winners at #Paris2024 getting $50,000 each.https://t.co/hIMrXDDd23
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 10, 2024
Coe added: “We started with the Olympic dividend payments to our member federations, which saw us distribute an extra five million dollars a year on top of existing grants aimed at athletics growth projects, and we are now in a position to also fund gold medal performances for athletes in Paris, with a commitment to reward all three medallists at the LA28 Olympic Games.
“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is.”
The awarding of prize money will be subject to ratification, which will include medal-winning athletes undergoing and clearing the usual anti-doping checks.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been contacted for comment.
This has been a marathon for Seb Coe. Athletics the first Olympic sport to pay prize money – 4 decades after the sport’s boss, Seb Coe, had a pivotal role in ending the amateur status for athletes to ensure they were paid for work after years of scrutiny of various event deals https://t.co/6TGBCwriMk
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) April 10, 2024