Twenty grand or a duck: how much Olympic athletes make for winning gold (2024)

Many Olympic athletes win more than just a medal when they place in the games, with national governments paying out thousands for gold, silver and bronze medals.

Some gold medallists leave Paris as millionaires, while others won't have much more than a dime to rub together; it all depends what country athletes are representing.

The richest medallists in the world

Hong Kong athletes are richly rewarded for their efforts at the Olympics, with gold medallists taking home the highest monetary award in the competition at HK$6 million, about A$1.18 million. However, unlike most other countries, the money doesn't come from the national government but The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The second largest gold medal payment for an Olympic athlete is for Singaporeans, with payouts of SGD$1 million, equivalent to about A$1.15 million. Only one Singaporean athlete has ever won gold; Joseph Schooling, who came first in the men's 100m butterfly in 2016.

Other high-flyers include Israeli athletes, who will collect 1 million shekels for a gold medal, which converts to about A$402,000. That's double what Israeli athletes were awarded in the Tokyo Olympics.

The United States pays gold medalists US$38,000, equal to about A$58,400.

Twenty grand and a duck

Australian athletes don't fare so well. The Australian Olympic Committee says competitors receive $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.

The government will still be paying out a fair chunk of cash to our athletes with 18 gold medals, 14 silver and 13 bronze as of day 13 of the games. It'll cost taxpayers about $700,000 - so far.

Some athletes were more concerned about other prizes for winning gold, with skateboarding champion Arisa Trew announcing her parents had promised her a pet duck if she won gold in Paris.

Although $20,000 could buy the 14-year-old a lot of ducks.

Something on the side

The AOC has also created a new Olympic Athlete Incentive Scheme which will allow philanthropists to make tax-deductible donations to medal-winning athletes, including team sports.

Part of the fund will help support athletes aspiring to attend an Olympics, or those who don't qualify.

The committee said unlike the regular medal awards, the new fund will not be tied to Olympic performances, but to other criteria.

Australian swimmers, rowers and volleyballers will get an extra payment for a gold medal from mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who promised $20,000 for a first-place finish in the Olympics and Paralympics.

Track and field stars stand to gain a fair chunk more cash than their comrades, with World Athletics announcing it would be awarding prize money of US$50,000 to gold medallists at the Paris Olympics, the first international sport federation to do so.

The sports body said it was committed to extending the prize money to Olympic silver and bronze medal winners at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

The International Boxing Association is also handing out cash to medallists these games, with the funds to be divided between the athlete, their coach and their national federation.

Gold medallists will receive US$100,000, with silver medalists getting $50,000 and bronze $25,000.