Going for gold has taken on a whole new meaning.
When athletes win at the 2024 Paris Olympics, they bring home more than just a gold, silver or bronze medal—they also take home a chunk of change. But as it turns out, the exact payout depends on the athlete’s country of origin.
For Team USA athletes, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards gold medalists with $37,500, silver medalists with $22,500 and bronze medalists with $15,000.
But while a payout south of $40,000 might not make a huge difference for an Olympian such as Lebron James—who, per Forbes, is the highest-paid athlete from the U.S. delegation having made $128.2 million between May 2023 and May 2024—for athletes from lesser talked-about sports, the prize money can be a game-changer.
“If I get first versus fourth in this race,” American canoer Nevin Harrison explained earlier this year, “which is a matter of 0.3 seconds, that determines what apartment I live in next year. So it’s an added pressure. It’s not just, ‘Oh, people are going to be really excited versus disappointed.’ It’s, ‘Do I pay my bills or not?'”