Team GB’s world champion swimmer Matt Richards has called on Olympics organisers to follow World Athletics and offer prize money for medallists in every sport.
For the first time, track and field athletes will net £40,000 should they win gold at Paris 2024, with relay teams sharing the same amount. Some nations offer medal bonuses but no similar arrangements are in place for other sports on the Olympic programme.
Critics suggest the move would erode Olympic values and the International Olympic Committee argues that it invests $4.2m in grassroots sport every day but Richards, the reigning men’s 200m freestyle world champion, insists the IOC should redress the balance.
“Winning Olympic gold is incredible and that’s why we go, we go knowing we’re not going to make a lot of money off the back of it,” said the 21-year-old, who also won Olympic relay gold at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
“The Olympics make crazy money every four years – big business – but the athletes aren’t able to win any of that. If the IOC stepped in and offered a blanket amount, that would make a lot of athletes a lot happier.
“There are athletes who are struggling to make ends meet, week in week out, and struggling to put food on their table. You see stories of athletes going bankrupt to go to the Olympics and I don’t think that’s right.
“I’d love it if World Aquatics came out and offered money for medals, I’m not going to turn that down. There need to be some conversations had about how we better support athletes at the Olympics.
“It’s not an amateur Games any more. There are basketball players there earning hundreds of millions a year. Football and tennis are the same. There needs to be something done about it.”
Richards invests in the stock market himself and is saving up to buy his own home, as well as preparing for a post-Games wedding with fellow swimmer Emily Large.
He believes Olympic prize money would also ward off the threat of the pro-doping Enhanced Games, which offers rewards of up to $1m and has signed up fellow freestyle swimmer James Magnussen.
“The Enhanced Games is offering stupid money for athletes to become drug cheats,” said Richards, who will benefit from Aldi and Team GB’s Nearest & Dearest programme in Paris.
“To protect the sport, protect the Olympics and everything that’s great about what we do, the governing bodies are going to have to start putting money up to stop athletes straying over to events like that.”
Richards won gold on his Olympic debut in Tokyo as a teenager, playing his part in a men’s 4x200m freestyle relay victory.
He now heads to Paris 2024 as one of Team GB’s leading medal hopes in the pool, with six podium shots across individual and relay events – meaning he could race up to 15 times in nine days.
Richards, who won relay gold in Tokyo, believes all Olympic medallists should get prize money
Richards won gold and Duncan Scott silver in the hotly-contested 200m freestyle at last week’s AquaticsGB Swimming Championships, with only the top two qualifying individual spots, meaning reigning Olympic champion Tom Dean will not defend his title this summer.
“It’s a tough one,” said Richards, who will benefit from the informative webinars and dedicated space in Paris to enjoy intimate moments with family and friends – whether celebrating or consoling – as part of Aldi’s Nearest and Dearest programme.
“Someone is going to miss out, it’s always the way. Last year Duncan missed out, the year before that I missed out. It’s a real shame for Tom not to go and try to defend his title. Nobody would like to see him not get an opportunity to do that.
“Fundamentally, Tom has a lot of strings to his bow nowadays and has huge opportunities elsewhere in the week. It’s probably not what he wanted but it’s not like we’re going to see Tom race at all, we’ll see some amazing things from him and he’ll play a huge role in the relays too.”
Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024.