World Athletics Set A New Trend, To Give Away $50,000 Cash Prize To Gold Medal Winners

A prize of $ 50000 each to the 48 gold medal winners of the Track and Field events at the Paris Summer Olympics in July –August 2024 may not be seen as a jackpot by the particular fraternity. Still, the sum is not pocket money either! It’s the sentiment that counts, and the World Athletics (WA) decision to disburse $ 2.4 million to the gold medallists in Paris — a portion of the revenue WA receives from the quadrennial Olympics — is a move that could trigger similar initiatives from other international sports federations. WA needs to be applauded, particularly its president, Sebastian Coe, a distinguished middle-distance runner who won gold medals at the Moscow (1980) and Los Angeles (1984) Olympics. India’s own Adille Sumariwalla, a sprinter-achiever, an Olympian and administrator (president of the Athletics Federation of India), was part of the WA decision as its Council member. The medal winners at the Olympics do not receive cash prize money, and hence, the WA decision would compensate the gold medal winners in a big way. The silver and bronze medal winners will likely get a cash prize from the WA but from the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. An Indian track and field athlete will receive Rs 41 lakh plus should they win a gold medal in Paris, and as of now, it looks as though only javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra can win the gold; he won at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.