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How Much Does USA Pay For Gold Medals?

NYC has been in full Olympic mode with a major activation transforming Rockefeller Center and tons of places showing the games.

And if you’ve been keeping up with the Paris Olympics watching legends like Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, Noah Lyles, Gabby Thompson and more U.S. athletes dominate, you’ve surely wondered how much they’re getting for gold.

So we’re breaking down just how much the U.S. pays Olympians for medaling in comparison with other countries—you might be surprised at the difference!

Gold, silver, bronze medals at Paris Olympics
Shutterstock / kovop

How much do U.S. athletes make for medaling?

At the Paris Olympics, U.S. athletes will make $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The payments have remained unchanged since the Tokyo Olympic Games.

How else do Olympians make money?

Beyond prize money for medaling, many of the highly successful Olympic athletes make most of their money through sponsorship deals. However, sports governing body, World Athletics announced in April that they’d pay gold medalists at the Paris Olympics $50,000. It marks the first time in history an international federation has awarded prize money at the games. They intend to expand the prize reward to silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 LA Olympic Games.

Katie Ledecky at Brazil Olympics
Shutterstock / Focus Pix

How much do other countries pay for medals?

In countries like Serbia, Malaysia, and Morocco, athletes can get paid more than $200,000 for their gold medal from either their nation’s government or national Olympic committee, according to USA Today Sports.

U.S.A. pays below average for medals, with general payments coming out to $95,000 for gold, $55,000 for silver and $39,000 for bronze across 25 countries studied by USA Today Sports. That’s all to say the U.S. tends to have a high medal count by the end of the games, and even topped the Tokyo Olympic Games with a total of 113 medals.

Which country pays the most for gold medals?

Hong Kong, China and Singapore have previously offered upwards $700,000 for gold.

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* This article was originally published here