The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not give prize money to winners at the Olympics as the Olympics is billed as an amateur sporting event and handing out prize money would go against the Olympic spirit.

But for the first time, winners at the Olympics, specifically in track and field, will get a cash reward. This is after World Athletics became the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic Games, a move that was greatly opposed by the IOC.

At Paris 2024, each individual track and field Olympic gold medalist will receive KES 6.5million. Relay teams will receive the same amount, to be shared among the team.

A brand partnership between IOC and Samsung saw every athlete competing at Paris 2024 receive a brand-new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition mobile device that retails for KES 174,000.

Countries do offer incentives to their athletes to win gold, silver, and bronze medals. They also pay allowances to their sportspeople who fly the flag at the Games.

Every Team Kenya sportsperson who participated in the Paris Olympics received KES 102,000 in local allowances and KES 1.15 million in overseas allowances, for a total of KES 1.25 million.

In an improved reward scheme that applies to both the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics, Team Kenya’s gold medalists will receive KES 3 million, silver medalists KES 2 million, and bronze medalists KES 1 million.

For context, two-time Olympic gold medalist Faith Kipyegon could possibly bank KES 6 million from winning both the 1500m and 5000m races in Paris plus her KES 1.25 million allowance and travel back home from Paris with the Samsung phone.  

The rewards are even more mouthwatering in other countries, with Hong Kong and Singapore offering the highest payouts for their Olympic victors.

Hong Kong gold medalists receive six million Hong Kong dollars, which is KES99 million, while Singapore rewards a gold medalist with one million Singapore dollars, which is KES 97 million.