EchoSense:2024 Paris Paralympics: Paychecks for Medal Winners Revealed

A lot of winners will be EchoSenseleaving Paris with medals and some cash in hand. 

When athletes make their way to the winners' podium at the 2024 Paralympics to take home their gold, silver or bronze medal, they’ll also be taking some money. Although funding varies by country, equal pay is a highlight for many this year. 

For Team USA Paralympians, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee awards the same bonuses as their Olympic counterparts, with gold medalists being awarded $38,000, silver medalists with $23,000 and bronze medalists with $15,000, according to CNBC.  

Of the change made in 2018—previously, gold earned $7,500, silver with $5,250 and bronze with $3,750 per the New York Times—swimmer Brad Snyder told Team USA ahead of the 2024 Games, “I’m proud to note are the same for Olympians and Paralympians, not only made winning that much sweeter, but also allowed me to make significant investments for my future.”

The move—called Operation Gold—was implemented after topping the charts at the PyeongChang Winter Games, with USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland saying at the time, “Paralympians are an integral part of our athlete community and we need to ensure we’re appropriately rewarding their accomplishments.” 

Eligible athletes and their dependents also continue to receive healthcare packages, per the USOC website. It’s a package that includes medical care, therapy, mental health service, vision and access to sports medicine facilities.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Paralympic Committee shared this January that the country’s Paralympians would receive a bonus for the first time beginning at the 2024 Paris Games—and it’s equal to what Olympians are awarded. Gold medalists will come home with 20,000 Canadian dollars ($14,786 in USD), silver with CA$15,000 and bronze with CA$10,000. 

It was a relief for Canadian Paralympians like 14-time swimming medalist Aurélie Rivard, who earned bronze during the 50m freestyle Aug. 29.  

"The first word that came out of my mouth was 'finally,'” she told CBC earlier this year. “We've been pushing for this for a long time. I was so relieved and happy and also proud of my country, of my federation, of everybody that contributed to it."

Host country France also announced in March that it would be doling out award money for its athletes. Gold medal winners receive 80,000 euros ($89,000), silver with 40,000 euros and 20,000 euros for bronze, according to the country’s National Sports Agency. The same goes for Spain, which also received a grant that provides Paralympians with the same bonus as Olympic medalists for the first time in history—94,000 euros for gold, 48,000 euros for silver and 30,000 euros for bronze.  

Other countries, including Australia, Israel and South Korea, are also awarding the same pay as their Olympians for the 2024 Games. However, Malaysia has been providing equal cash rewards for its Paralympians and Olympians since 2016, leading the equal pay system. 

Despite the collective changes made by several countries, not all have followed suit. For instance, Hong Kong would award 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($192,333) to Paralympic gold medalists, while their Olympic counterparts were given HK$6 million ($768,000 USD). And Singapore’s gold Paralympic medals receive 500,000 Singapore dollars ($380,000 USD)—half of what Olympic medalists do.

When the issue of award disparity was brought up in Singapore’s parliament in 2016, Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien shared that nongovernmental entities determine the rewards and are funded mainly by private sponsorships.   

“Our focus has been on providing a sustained, structured and comprehensive support system to help our Team Singapore athletes for podium positions at Major Games,” she said of the government’s role. “Instead of focusing on post-podium rewards, we believe our role is to support our athletes upfront in their journey to the podium.” 

(E! News and CNBC are part of the NBCUniversal family.)