Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, controversially said they would pay gold medallists.
Some nations pay there athletes with financial rewards and other assets such as titles and land, but it is not common for a governing body to pay athletes at the Olympic Games.
So with US$50,000 on the line for each gold medal, what does the athletics table look like?
World Athletics Paris 2024 $ table
PositionCountryGolds$ paid by WA1United States14$700,0002Kenya4$200,0003Canada3$150,0004Spain2$100,0005Norway2$100,0006Netherlands2$100,0007Great Britain1$50,0008Jamaica1$50,0009Australia1$50,00010Germany1$50,00011Ethiopia1$50,00012China1$50,00013Belgium1$50,00014Bahrain1$50,00015Botswana1$50,00016Ecuador1$50,00017New Zealand1$50,00018Saint Lucia1$50,00019Uganda1$50,00020Ukraine1$50,00021Greece1$50,00022Dominica1$50,00023Dominican Republic1$50,00024Japan1$50,00025Morocco1$50,00026Pakistan1$50,00027Sweden1$50,000Athletics Medal Table
Track stories of the Olympic Games
Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia’s first ever gold medal when she stormed to the women’s 100m title on the first weekend of track and field. Much of her island nation stopped to watch the historic moment.
Dominica, too, are celebrating their first gold medal at an Olympic Games. Thea LaFond set a national record of 15.02m as she won the triple jump. She used her platform to educate viewers on Dominica and what makes her achievement all the more remarkable.
Team GB’s 10 medals (only one gold, Keely Hodgkinson) represents their best track and field tally since 1984, when the likes of Seb Coe, Daley Thompson and Tessa Sanderson won gold.
The United States won 14 golds and 34 medals overall, which represents their best track and field Games since 1984. In LA they scored 40 medals, 16 of which were gold.
Sifan Hassan won three medals (two bronze and one gold) inside a week, finishing on the podium in the 5000m, 10000m and marathon.
A national first
At the time
When this was announced, World Athletics president Lord Seb Coe said: “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.
“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.
“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.”