Athletics will become the first Olympic sport to pay its gold medallists, with winners at this summer’s Paris Games pocketing £40,000 each.
World Athletics has opted to break from tradition and use a £1.9million prize pot to remunerate its champions.
The sport’s governing body also plans to stretch the prize pot for the subsequent summer Olympics in Los Angeles with financial rewards for the silver and bronze medallists.
Individual champions will net £40,000 in Paris with relay teams sharing a similar prize pot in their events. All gold medallists must pass the necessary anti-doping controls to earn their payday.
World Athletics president Seb Coe said: “The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for World Athletics and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games.
“This is the continuation of a journey we started back in 2015, which sees all the money World Athletics receives from the International Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games go directly back into our sport.
“We started with the Olympic dividend payments to our member federations, which saw us distribute an extra US$5m a year on top of existing grants aimed at athletics growth projects, and we are now in a position to also fund gold medal performances for athletes in Paris, with a commitment to reward all three medallists at the LA28 Olympic Games.
“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, I think it is important we start somewhere.”
