Topline
With just four days left until the opening of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, athletes from Team USA will not only try to win gold for their country, but land an additional payout from the U.S. Olympics committee, giving gold medalists tens of thousands of dollars.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards Team USA gold medalists $37,500.
Key Facts
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards gold medalists $37,500, while silver medalists make a cool $22,500 and bronze medalists win $15,000.
That’s far less than athletes from some other countries would take home, with gold medal winners from Malaysia earning roughly $236,000, winners from Kazakhstan making $250,000 and winning athletes from Singapore making roughly $737,000, according to a 2021 CNBC report.
While for some Olympians, a minor payout amounts to a drop in the bucket of their multi-million-dollar professional contracts, other athletes in less popular sports tend to rely on those earnings, with Canoe athlete Nevin Harrison telling USA Today the bonus is a matter of “Do I pay my bills or not?”
The committee also offers eligible Team USA athletes and their dependents a healthcare package paid in full by the committee that covers medical care, therapy, mental health service, and vision, along with access to three sports medicine clinics in California, Colorado and New York (coverage ends when athletes become ineligible, at which point they can remain on the plan for 12 months at their own expense).
Meanwhile, gold-medal winning Track and Field athletes will make an additional $50,000 from World Athletics, the international governing body for track events.
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Tangent
The highest-paid athlete competing for Team USA will be Los Angeles Lakers star and four-time NBA champion LeBron James, who made $128.2 million ($80 million off the court) between May 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024, according to Forbes’ 2024 list of highest-paid athletes. James leads a pack of highly-paid NBA stars competing for the men’s national team, along with Stephen Curry ($102 million), Kevin Durant ($93.3 million), Joel Embiid ($57.7 million), Anthony Davis ($46.2 million), Devin Booker ($45.2 million) and Jayson Tatum, who made $45.9 million between May 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024, though earlier this month he signed a record five-year, $314 million contract extension giving him. Team USA will also include golfer Scottie Scheffler, who made $39.2 million in that time period, and swimmer Katie Ledecky, who landed a $7 million deal with sportswear company TYR, and gymnast Simone Biles, who made $7.1 million in 2023, tennis star Jessica Pegula ($12.5 million in 2023), Coco Gauff ($21.7 million), golfer Nelly Korda ($8.2 million) according to Forbes.
What To Watch For
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT Friday afternoon. The flashy showcase of over 10,000 athletes will feature a show of floats down Paris’ Seine River, including athletes and musical performances, with appearances by First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.
