Olympic athletes to get cash grants from new $100M fund created by IOC

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, speaks during the 146th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the SwissTech Convention Centre, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — It’s not Olympic prize money officially, but it is a significant amount of cash going directly to athletes after a Summer or Winter Games.

The International Olympic Committee pledged Wednesday to pay up to $140 million to athletes through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games by creating a fund for $10,000 grants for which they can apply after competing.

The IOC’s cash commitment came after growing calls were strongly resisted in recent years to pay prize money at the Olympics, and signaled another policy shift under its president Kirsty Coventry.

IOC member and former NBA star Pau Gasol announced the project that 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 in 2028 at L.A. also can apply for grants totaling about $110 million after those Olympics, if they meet integrity criteria such as 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.”

The money allocated by the IOC is not dependent on an athlete continuing their career.

Coventry’s Olympic strategy

The cash promise was the signature issue of an IOC meeting setting a future strategy under its president Kirsty Coventry exactly one year after she formally took office.

Gasol said the IOC had heard a consistent message during its strategy review: “Athletes want more direct support throughout their Olympic journey and beyond.”

The 42-year-old Coventry is a five-time Olympian and two-time swimming gold medalist for Zimbabwe. She was elected as the youngest president, and most recent former athlete, in the IOC’s modern history.

Olympic prize money

Paying prize money to Olympic medalists was a central policy for one of Coventry’s election opponents, World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe, who oversaw rewarding track and field champions at the 2024 Paris Olympics with $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.

In Los Angeles, World Athletics is adding to its prize fund to pay silver and bronze medalists as well.

Coventry restated two weeks ago her long-held belief that the IOC should not use its Olympic revenues to pay prize money to an elite tier of medalists.

That question to Coventry at an IOC news conference followed a fierce reaction by some athletes to her comments while on Olympic business in New Zealand last month that prize money would not be paid.

“The backlash was a little frustrating,” Coventry acknowledged Wednesday at a news conference, because the policy plan had still been confidential. “It is not something that just happened over the last few weeks.”

The IOC already funds a program called “Olympic Solidarity” that directs grants worth thousands of dollars to athletes from less-wealthy countries preparing to qualify for and compete at a Summer or Winter Games.

The Solidarity budget, which also funds team costs, coaches and officials, is worth $650 million for the four-year Olympic cycle that includes Milan Cortina and Los Angeles.

How the system should work

Gasol, a three-time Olympic medalist for Spain, said applying for the grants will be at an IOC online platform that helps athletes during and after their careers.

Approved money should be sent to national Olympic committees which oversee teams and competitors. Those NOCs will have to show the money transfers were made directly to athletes, Gasol suggested

Several dozens of Olympic athletes — in men’s basketball, soccer and ice hockey, for example — are already wealthy from their careers but they will still be eligible, Gasol told reporters.

“They will decide if they want to apply,” the former L.A. Lakers standout said. “We want to engage them.”

Fit for the Future

The Year One review of Coventry’s presidency has been branded “Fit for the Future” to reshape Olympic strategy after 12 years of Thomas Bach’s leadership.

IOC members also signed off Wednesday on new processes for choosing Olympic hosts plus adding or removing sports and events from games programs.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press