How Olympic athletes generate income

The Worldwide Olympic Committee will hand out greater than 300 medals over the course of the Paris Video games, but it surely will not hand out any money.

“The Olympics has at all times supposedly been about striving to be the perfect, with out doing it for monetary causes,” stated Ben Bloom, a sports activities journalist who has lined the Olympic Video games for over a decade.

“There may be a whole lot of unhappiness amongst athletes throughout each single sport who compete on the Olympics, on the subject of the monetary compensation that they obtain for being the celebrities of the present. With out them, there can be no Olympics,” Bloom advised CNBC Sport.

Sport governing physique World Athletics is stepping in considerably to cowl the deficit. Gold medal winners in 48 disciplines will obtain a $50,000 money prize, and will probably be extending the winnings to silver and bronze monitor and subject medalists in 2028.

And what concerning the nations these athletes are representing? 

“Some nations do financially reward their athletes, some fairly handsomely,” Bloom stated.

A gold medal winner from Hong Kong or Singapore, as an example, can count on greater than $700,000 for his or her podium end. Nonetheless, different nations like Nice Britain, Sweden and Norway supply no money prize. 

This makes cashing in on Olympic success extra difficult than you’d count on.

Sponsorships and grants play a task– however an unlucky flip like an damage can simply derail these sources of revenue.

“Very early on, I acquired a whole lot of assist and help from sponsors,” stated Desiree Henry, a sprinter competing for Britain at Paris 2024. “However then, like many athletes know, accidents aren’t only a bodily factor.  It modified my entire life. I went from having a number of sponsors to not having any sponsors.” 

“A whole lot of athletes, that is all we’re on the lookout for, that chance, simply to have the ability to prepare again full time, as a result of we all know what we are able to obtain. However we additionally know the truth is that issues are costly, and we do want that monetary assist and help,” Henry added.

Discover out extra about how Olympic athletes money in on their dream by watching the video above. 

Did you miss half one of many Enterprise of Elite Athletes? Watch it right here.