Cash awards, diamonds and a lifetime supply of free ramen. In addition to gold, silver and bronze medals, these are just some of the prizes that Olympic medalists are set to receive from their home countries for placing on the podium at this year’s summer games in Paris. Olympians are controversially not paid by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) itself, although winners will take medals containing iron from the Eiffel Tower, alongside an official 2024 Paris Olympics poster designed by illustrator Ugo Gattoni and a stuffed toy of the official Olympics mascot Phyrges. The sporting event brings together tens of thousands of athletes, some of whom aren’t financially stable enough to support themselves solely through their sport, while others receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually via sponsorships and lucrative signing bonuses.
Some sports bodies have decided to take a stance against the IOC’s no-payout policy. World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, announced in April that it would become the first international sports federation to award prize money to winning Olympians with plans to gift $50,000 to gold medalists this summer. “It is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is,” said Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, in a statement. The following month, the International Boxing Association (IBA) revealed that it, too, would begin awarding funds to Olympic medalists.
For the most part, however, athletes who place on the podium receive alternative awards from national governments, Olympic committees and businesses. Here’s a look at the diverse array of prizes Olympic winners are set to take home this year:
Except for a spattering of countries that includes Great Britain and Norway, the majority of nations participating in the Olympic games award additional cash incentives to athletes who make the podium. The U.S., for example, gives $38,000 to gold medalists, $23,000 for silver and $15,000 for bronze—prize money that can make a significant difference for an amateur athlete. “If I get first versus fourth in this race, which is a matter of point-3 seconds, that determines what apartment I live in next year,” said Nevin Harrison, an American canoer participating in this year’s Olympics, earlier this year.
The largest cash prizes are given out by Hong Kong, which awards $768,000 for gold, $384,000 for silver and $192,000 for bronze, according to CNBC. Singapore and Indonesia follow behind, awarding $745,000 and $300,000, respectively, to gold medal winners. South Korea, meanwhile, gives gold medalists a monthly pension of 1 million South Korean won ($733) in addition to a prize sum of 63 million won ($46,000). Most countries only award funds to those placing in first, second or third, although Germany also doles out money for fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth-place athletes.
For some athletes participating in this year’s Olympic Games, they’ll have an entirely new home to return to when they leave Paris. Those representing Kazakhstan will receive free housing if they win a medal, with their placement determining the size of their new digs. Gold medalists win a three-room apartment, while silver and bronze get two-room and one-room apartments respectively. Iraq’s Olympic soccer team, meanwhile, didn’t even have to win to receive residential land plots granted by the nation’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, who gave out the plots in June when the team qualified for the summer games.
In Malaysia, winning athletes can expect to be gifted a brand new car with the model depending on their spot on the podium. And Olympic and Paralympic champions from Hong Kong are set to receive free lifetime train tickets from the region’s public transit operator MTR Corporation, according to local reports.
Many local restaurants offer free food as a way to celebrate their newly-adorned national heroes. During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Indonesian athletes Greysia Polii and Pariyani Rahayu were given their very own meatball restaurants from a local chain after taking home gold in badminton, in addition to receiving other gifts of cows and houses. Winning athletes from Malaysia, meanwhile, were given free lifetime access to food and and teh tarik—a milk tea beverage—from a national restaurant chain.
Carlos E. Yulo, a Filipino gymnast who won two gold medals this summer, will be spoilt for choice when he returns home. In recognition of his achievements at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yulo has been granted a lifetime supply of food from multiple restaurants offering ramen, mac and cheese and chicken inasal (provided that they stay in business).
For some local businesses, offering free food to national Olympic winners just isn’t enough. Yulo, for example, has also been given free university credits from the University of Mindanao, a set of headlights and fog lights, and the use of a wedding photographer if he ever gets married. A local gastroenterologist additionally has offered the gymnast a lifetime supply of free consultations and colonoscopies.
Other unusual gifts granted to winning Olympians include an investment-grade diamond, a locally-made painting and a vacation voucher for two gifted to Polish athletes who place first on the podium. Gold medalists from Austria, meanwhile, have previously received collections of Philharmonic coins—bullion coins named for Vienna’s Philharmonic Orchestra—valued at 17,000 euros ($19,000). In South Korea, athletes who earn medals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are granted exemptions from the country’s mandatory 20-month military service and will only be required to partake in basic training.
