Track and field to be first sport to pay prize money at Olympics

Track and field athletes who win gold at the coming Summer Olympics in Paris will go home with an extra $50,000, World Athletics announced Wednesday. The landmark decision makes track and field the first sport to introduce prize money at the Olympics.

The move is a symbolic break with the amateur past of the Olympics in one of the games' most-watched events.

Athletics officials said it is setting aside $2.4 million to pay gold medalists across the 48 events on the track and field program at this year's Paris Olympics. Relay teams will split the $50,000 between their members. Payments for silver and bronze medalists are planned to start from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.