American medallists will earn a collective $8.3 million from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, but two countries are paying even more for their athletes’ trips to the podium at the Paris Games.
On the morning of August 4, with the U.S. men’s swimming team in danger of leaving Paris without an individual gold medal, Bobby Finke uncorked a world record-setting performance. The 24-year-old dominated, winning the men’s 1500-meter freestyle event by almost four seconds. And he wasn’t the only American to top the podium that day. The U.S. also claimed gold in the women’s 4×100-meter mixed medley, setting another world record in the process.
Overall, the U.S. claimed 28 swimming medals, 10 more than the next best country participating in the Paris Games, and that’s only a fraction of what the U.S. Olympic team achieved. Americans reached the podium 126 times over the last two weeks, continuing the U.S. streak of collecting the most medals at the Summer Games dating back to Atlanta in 1996.
But success isn’t cheap. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee supplies bonuses to its medaling athletes, in addition to other grants and benefits, like health insurance, paying $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. American Olympians are eligible to receive multiple bonuses and get the same amount whether they won as an individual or a member of a team. For instance, all 12 members of the U.S. men’s national basketball team will each receive $37,500 for winning gold, not that their roster of mega-millionaires are hard up for cash. Altogether, the American Olympic committee will disburse $8.3 million from the 2024 Games, with about 23% going to the swimmers alone.
The U.S. isn’t the only one shelling out big sums, either. In the lead up to the Olympics, Forbes reached out to all 206 countries and territories participating in the Paris Olympics and verified at least 33 would award cash prizes for medals. Within that group, 10 will spend more than $1 million rewarding their athletes for trips to the podium.
| Country | Total Medals | Payout ($USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 40 | $10.7 million |
| 🇫🇷 France | 64 | $9.4 million |
| 🇺🇸 United States | 126 | $8.3 million |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | 19 | $3.8 million |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 4 | $1.9 million |
| 🇺🇦 Ukraine | 12 | $1.5 million |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | 7 | $1.5 million |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 34 | $1.3 million |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | 10 | $1 million |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 20 | $1 million |
France and Italy, which pay more per medal, have even bigger bills than the U.S. The host nation earned 64 medals, including 16 golds, amounting to total payments of $9.4 million. Meanwhile, Italy will disburse an even larger sum, $10.7 million, despite taking home 24 fewer medals than France. Brazil collected 20 medals, but fell less than $20,000 shy of crossing the $1 million threshold, with about $981,000 total going to its athletes.
Hong Kong, which competes independently of China at the Olympics, will dish out nearly $2 million to its medal-winning athletes. But while other nations only reach those kinds of payments with dozens of athletes on the podium, the territory offers the most lucrative bonuses among respondents to Forbes’ inquires. Hong Kong’s two gold medallists this summer will each receive roughly $768,000, while its two athletes claiming bronze will take home about $192,000.
Some countries, however, won’t have to spend much at all, if anything. Lithuania, Malaysia and Moldova combined for 10 medals, none of which were gold, and a total payout of roughly $1 million. Estonia, which offers about $108,00 to its gold medallists, saw none of its athletes reach the podium at these Olympics.
Here are 10 countries and territories whose Olympic medal totals carry seven-figure price tags.
🇮🇹 Italy
- Paris Medal Count: 12 gold, 13 silver, 15 bronze
- Bonuses: $196,000 Gold, $98,000 Silver, $65,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $10.7 million
Italy may not crack the top five countries by total medals, but it’s still shelling out millions for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Boot offers one of the more generous cash rewards among respondents to Forbes’ inquiries, and athletes are eligible for multiple medal bonuses. That’s welcome news for the seven who did just that, including gymnast Alice D’Amato, who earned an individual gold medal and a team silver, amounting to nearly $300,000 in bonuses.
🇫🇷 France
- Paris Medal Count: 16 gold, 26 silver, 22 bronze
- Bonuses: $87,000 Gold, $43,000 Silver, $22,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $9.4 million
Thanks in part to stars like swimmer Léon Marchand, who won four golds and a bronze at the 2024 Games, French athletes posted their best collective performance in more than a century, earning 64 medals total. That’s the second-best mark in the nation’s history, behind only the 102 medals France collected at the 1900 Paris Olympics.
🇺🇸 United States
- Paris Medal Count: 40 gold, 44 silver, 42 bronze
- Bonuses: $37,500 Gold, $22,500 Silver, $15,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $8.3 million
The United States had no shortage of dramatic moments during the Paris Games, from Simone Biles’ return to gymnastics glory to Noah Lyles’ razor-thin victory in the 100-meter dash. That goes for Ilona Maher and the women’s national rugby sevens squad, too, which claimed its first-ever medal, a bronze, with an upset over Australia. That’ll cost the USOPC $180,000 or $15,000 for each member of the 12-person team.
🇭🇺 Hungary
- Paris Medal Count: 6 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze
- Bonuses: $165,000 Gold, $118,000 Silver, $94,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $3.8 million
Thanks to impressive performances by its swimming, fencing and canoeing teams, Hungary earned 19 medals at the Paris Games. But while the nation boasts one of the preeminent water polo programs on the planet, it failed to reach the podium in either the men’s or women’s competitions at these Olympics. Three years ago, in Tokyo, Hungary collected bronze in both.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
- Paris Medal Count: 2 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze
- Bonuses: $768,000 Gold, $394,000 Silver, $192,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1.9 million
Cheung Ka Long made history for Hong Kong at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, earning the nation’s first-ever fencing medal. Three years later, he defended the honor, repeating as the men’s foil champion. But the 27-year-old is no longer Hong Kong’s only fencing gold medalist as Vivian Kong also topped the podium this year, in women’s épée.
🇺🇦 Ukraine
- Paris Medal Count: 3 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze
- Bonuses: $125,000 Gold, $80,000 Silver, $55,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1.5 million
Ukraine sent only 140 athletes to the Paris Olympics, the smallest delegation in its history, as the country remains under siege from Russia’s invasion. (The British government released a survey stating that almost 500 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russia’s forces since 2022 and another 4,000 were unable to compete because of their involvement in the war effort.) Still, the Eastern European nation has collected 12 medals at the Games, including three golds, which each come with a roughly $125,000 bonus.
🇮🇱 Israel
- Paris Medal Count: 1 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze
- Bonuses: $268,000 Gold, $188,000 Silver, $134,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1.5 million
Israel pays roughly $268,000 for a gold medal, a sum shared by the nation’s Olympic Committee and its sports ministry. (It’s also tax free.) Only one Israeli athlete claimed the honor at the 2024 Games, though. Tom Reuveny topped the podium in men’s windsurfing, doing so 20 years after his coach, Gal Fridman, became Israel’s first-ever gold medalist.
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Paris Medal Count: 15 gold, 7 silver, 12 bronze
- Bonuses: $33,000 Gold, $16,000 Silver, $8,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1.3 million
The Netherlands medaled in a slew of different sports, like swimming, sailing, cycling and 3×3 basketball. But the Dutch showcased their dominance in field hockey, claiming gold in both the men’s and women’s competitions. That came with a roughly $12,000 payday for each participating member of the teams.
🇵🇱 Poland
- Paris Medal Count: 1 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze
- Bonuses: $84,000 Gold, $65,000 Silver, $50,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1 million
While Poland is slated to pay its athletes $1 million in cash bonuses, the benefits don’t end there. Those who reach the podium will receive an investment-grade diamond, a vacation voucher for two from a travel agency, a painting from “talented and respected” Polish artists and an apartment in the Warsaw metropolitan area. That’s welcome news for the 28 Polish athletes who medaled at the Paris Games, including No. 1 ranked women’s tennis player and bronze medalist Iga Świątek.
🇳🇿 New Zealand
- Paris Medal Count: 10 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze
- Bonuses: $40,000 Gold, $30,000 Silver, $30,000 Bronze
- Total Payout: $1 million
New Zealand earned 10 of its 20 medals over the final four days of the Paris Games, a late surge that pushed its payout over $1 million. But it structures its bonuses as annual payments that continue until the next Olympics. So, based on the 2024 Games, the island nation will disburse roughly $4 million total over the next four years.
METHODOLOGY
The medal bonuses are listed in U.S. dollars, converted from the local currency at the exchange rate as of August 11 and rounded to the nearest thousand.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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