NOTHING beats securing a gold medal for your country at the Paralympic Games – but the Paris prize money will make winning a little bit sweeter.
Team GB won a staggering total of 124 medals during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
And while standing on the podium rewards Paralympians with immense glory, several athletes from Team GB would have enjoyed a nice payday had the Games come with prize money.
However, in a huge rule change for Paris 2024, national governments and sports federations have decided to reward Paralympians with prize money – first seen at the Olympics.
But not every country will be giving their Paralympic athletes the chance to earn money in Paris.
World Athletics revealed that a pot of £1.9m was distributed to winning medallists at the Olympic Games.
However, Paralympians will not see prize money awarded to gold medallists as the competition is governed by the World Para Athletics.
But individual national committees have decided to pay their Paralympic athletes.
USA Paralympic athletes will earn the same as Team USA Olympic stars, which is $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
Hong Kong gives its Olympians $644,000 for a gold, $322,000 for a silver and $161,000 for a bronze, but its 24 Paralympians will get paid six times less than that – all in HKD
Malaysia, in addition to providing its Olympians and Paralympians $241,000 for gold, $72,200 for silver and $24,100 for a bronze, also pays a monthly salary to its medalists for life – all in Malaysia Ringgit
This is approximately $1,182 for a gold, $709 for a silver and $473 for a bronze.
Team GB Paralympic athletes will not receive prize money for winning medals but they will receive an annual training stipend.
The UK Government has already announced that it will provide £232m to help competitors from Great Britain and Northern Ireland prepare for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
