The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will pay more than USD 100 million directly to athletes, creating a fund through which they can apply for USD 10,000 grants after competing at a Summer or Winter Games.
The cash commitment from the IOC on Wednesday came after growing calls in recent years for prize money to be paid at the Olympic Games.
IOC member and former NBA star Pau Gasol announced the project, which will first be open to nearly 2,900 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Around 11,000 athletes due to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games can also apply for grants totalling about USD 110 million after those Olympics, provided they meet eligibility criteria, including not testing positive for doping.
“This is a win for all of us,” said Gasol, who represents athletes on the 15-member IOC Executive Board, adding that it was “not prize money.”
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The cash promise was the signature issue on the agenda of an IOC meeting setting a future strategy under its president Kirsty Coventry, exactly one year after she formally took office.
The 42-year-old Coventry is a five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic gold medallist for Zimbabwe. She was elected as the youngest president and most recent former athlete in the IOC’s modern history.
Paying prize money to Olympic medallists was a central policy for one of Coventry’s election opponents, World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, who oversaw rewarding athletics champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics with USD 50,000.
“This is a historic moment for the movement and I’m absolutely delighted to be in the room when this has been announced,” Coe told his fellow IOC members, praising Coventry’s policy.
Published on Jun 24, 2026
