It's not Olympic prize money officially, but it is a significant amount of cash going directly to athletes after a Summer or Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee pledged Wednesday to pay up to $140 million to athletes through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games by creating a fund for $10,000 grants for which they can apply after competing, the AP reports. The IOC's cash commitment came after growing calls were strongly resisted in recent years to pay prize money at the Olympics, and signaled another policy shift under its president Kirsty Coventry.Om
IOC member and former NBA star Pau Gasol announced the project that will first be open to nearly 2,900 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. Around 11,000 athletes due to compete in 2028 at LA also can apply for grants totaling about $110 million after those Olympics, if they meet integrity criteria such as not testing positive for doping. "This is a win for all of us," said Gasol, who represents athletes on the 15-member IOC executive board, adding that it was "not prize money." He said the IOC had heard a consistent message during its strategy review: "Athletes want more direct support throughout their Olympic journey and beyond."
The cash promise was the signature issue of an IOC meeting setting a future strategy under Coventry exactly one year after she formally took office. The 42-year-old is a five-time Olympian and two-time swimming gold medalist for Zimbabwe. She was elected as the youngest president, and most recent former athlete, in the IOC's modern history. Paying prize money to Olympic medalists was a central policy for one of Coventry's election opponents, World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe, who oversaw rewarding track and field champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics with $50,000. Coe praised the move as "a historic moment."
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