No, U.S. athletes don’t get paid to compete in the Olympics, but they can still earn money

Ahead of the Olympics, many people online are asking if Olympic athletes are paid. VERIFY reader Denise also wanted to know how much money American athletes receive to compete in the Games. 

THE QUESTION

Do U.S. athletes get paid to compete in the Olympics?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, U.S. athletes do not get paid to compete in the Olympics. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee doesn’t give athletes a salary, but they can earn prize money if they win medals and can also agree to outside sponsorship deals. 

WHAT WE FOUND

American athletes don’t receive a salary from the U.S. or International Olympic Committees for competing in the Games. But they can earn money through winning medals, as well as receiving outside sponsorships and stipends.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says on its website that it does not compensate athletes directly for their participation in the Games. Instead, “it is up to each National Olympic to decide whether they want to compensate their athletes,” the IOC told VERIFY in 2022. 

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) does not pay American athletes to compete in the Games, according to Tim Baghurst, Ph.D., a Florida State University professor who has worked with organizations affiliated with the Olympics.

Most U.S. Olympic athletes “do not receive anything unless they win a medal,” Baghurst said.

During the Tokyo Olympics, the USOPC gave out $37,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 for each silver medal and $15,000 for each bronze medal earned at the Games. The USOPC did not respond to VERIFY’s request for comment on whether these rewards would remain the same for the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Governing bodies for specific sports sometimes offer their own rewards for medaling, too. 

For example, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, gold medal winners in 48 track and field events will receive $50,000 prizes for the first time ever, World Athletics, the governing body for track and field athletics, announced in April. 

USA Wrestling has a “Living the Dream Medal Fund” to compensate athletes who win medals during world championships and at the Olympics. 

Athletes can also receive financial support from sponsors or monthly stipends from national governing bodies of their sport. But those stipends are “not uniform across sports,” Baghurst said. 

As an added bonus, U.S. Olympic athletes who win medals and get prize money won’t be taxed. That’s because former President Barack Obama signed a law ending the “victory tax” in October 2016. 

Some Olympians and other elite athletes have said they rely on income outside of the money they get from competing. A survey from Team USA found that more than half of the athletes who responded to the survey said they earn less than $25,000 during an Olympics year, with one-quarter of them relying on income outside of sports. One-third of the athletes said they rely primarily on competition prize money and sponsorships for their income.

So we can VERIFY it’s false that U.S. athletes are paid to compete in the Olympics. Many of the athletes rely on income outside of sports, sponsorship money, and compensation from winning medals at the Olympics or other athletic events.