Big news for Olympic athletes, and it’s not about medals this time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unveiled a new cash support scheme that means every competitor at the Games will walk away with a $10,000 grant, no matter where they finish.

According to reporting by cbinews.tv, the IOC made the announcement on Wednesday, confirming the launch of a new “Fit for the Future Olympian Grant”.

In simple terms, every athlete who competes at the Olympic Games will be eligible for a $10,000 (around €8,800) payment. The IOC says the initiative will form part of a wider $140 million fund across each four-year Olympic cycle.

Former Spanish basketball star and chair of the Athletes’ Commission, Pau Gasol, explained that the grant is designed to recognise what it actually means to be an Olympian, representing your country and competing on sport’s biggest stage.

He was clear, though: “It’s not prize money.”

“Every athlete at the Olympic Games, no matter where they’re from, no matter where they finish, will be eligible,” Gasol said during a press conference in Lausanne. He added that the aim is to acknowledge participation and contribution, not podium positions.

The IOC also confirmed that athletes who competed at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games earlier this year will be able to apply once the system is fully set up.

However, the move comes amid ongoing debate about whether Olympic athletes should be directly paid. IOC President Kirsty Coventry has consistently pushed back against prize money, stressing that the new grants will not reduce funding shares already allocated to National Olympic Committees or international federations.

That stance hasn’t gone down well with everyone. Former swimmer Roland Schoeman has been particularly vocal, even launching a petition calling for changes at the top of the IOC leadership, arguing that athletes deserve more direct financial recognition.

On the other side of the debate, World Athletics has already taken a different route. Its president, Sebastian Coe, backed prize money at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where gold medallists in track and field received $50,000 each, with relay teams sharing the pot.

As Coe pointed out, the sporting world has moved on from the old amateur era, and governing bodies now face growing pressure to reflect that reality.

In short: the IOC says this isn’t about medals or rankings, it’s about acknowledging every athlete who makes it to the Olympic stage. But the wider debate over pay, fairness and tradition is clearly far from over.

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