- World Athletics has declared that it would be the first international sport to pay athletes for winning an Olympic gold medal.
- Olympic silver and bronze medal winners at the LA 2028 Games will also get financial awards.
- the idea behind this acknowledgment is that athletes may contribute in all 48 categories and the goal is to extend that pot.
In a move that could upset the International Olympic Committee and break 128 years of precedent, World Athletics has declared that it would be the first international sport to pay athletes for winning an Olympic gold medal.
Track and field competitors who place first in each of the 48 events will also take home a prize of $50,000 (£39,360) starting this summer in Paris. Olympic silver and bronze medal winners at the LA 2028 Games will also get financial awards, according to a pledge made by World Athletics.
World Athletics
The IOC has never provided money for competing in the Olympics or winning a medal, contending that participating in the Games is sufficient compensation. This makes the decision startling.
President of World Athletics Seb Coe said it was appropriate for his organization to provide athletes $2.4 million from the money it receives from the IOC every four years.
He underlined the value of beginning somewhere and making sure that a portion of the money made by competitors at the Olympics goes directly back to the people who contribute to the show that is the Olympics.
Coe hopes the move would be welcomed by IOC president Thomas Bach, noting that the organization has returned money to the sport. Coe has not spoken with Bach about the decision. According to him, the idea behind this acknowledgment is that athletes may contribute in all 48 categories, and as the sport develops, the goal is to extend that pot.
