World Athletics becomes first international governing body to pay Olympic athletes

The GIST: On Wednesday, international track and field governing body World Athletics announced it will award $50K to each event winner at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, becoming the first international governing body to do so. This will uplift athletics medalists who, until now, have been classified as amateurs and had to forfeit compensation opportunities.

The details: This award money is part of a $2.4M total prize package that covers 48 events at the Games. While it only currently applies to gold medalists, the prize fund will expand to include silver and bronze medalists at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

• “I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is,” said Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president and Olympic 1500m double gold medalist. Definitely been in their shoes.

The context: It’s a bold pivot, considering the Olympics has spent over a century restricting most athletes to amateurism. And since many Olympic sports don’t enjoy year-round coverage or compensation, athletes often struggle to support the costs of training and equipment with day jobs.

The trend: As Coe mentioned, the concept of athletes profiting from their success is nothing new — in fact, it’s quite common in men’s team sports. NBA players receive 50% of the league’s total revenue through their CBA, which the WNBPA is currently fighting to give its players.

• This is what happens as businesses are able to level up, and with electric stars like Sha’Carri Richardson and Shelly-Ann Fraser bringing more attention (and sponsors) to the women’s game, the compensation model in athletics is finally on the right track.