IOC Announces New Grant Paying Each Olympian $10,000 USD Beginning In 2026

After plenty of discussion over the last month regarding Olympic athletes being paid, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken action.

In an Olympic first, the IOC announced Wednesday the creation of the “Fit for the Future Olympian Grant” which will provide $10,000 (USD) to each eligible Olympian beginning with the 2026 Winter Games in Milano Cortina, which took place this past February.

IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair Pau Gasol announced that $140 million per Olympiad has been set aside to support the athletes while speaking at the 146th IOC Session on Wednesday in Lausanne.

“This grant will be available to every Olympian,” Gasol said. “Not just medal winners. Not just athletes from certain countries. Every Olympian. Because, while every athlete’s journey is different, every Olympian has made sacrifices to reach the Olympic stage.

“Years of dedication. Years of hard work. Years of believing in a dream. This is not prize money. This is about recognizing the journey and the commitment it takes to become an Olympian. And it is about recognizing that every Olympian is part of our Olympic community, and honouring those who have come before us and paved the way, so that current and future generations of Olympians can benefit.”

According to the IOC, “about 14,000” athletes per Olympiad will be eligible for the $10,000 grant, which will be “delivered through existing National Olympic Committee structures.”

The 14,000 number is comfortably over the amount of athletes we’ve seen compete in recent Games. The Summer Olympics have typically had between 10,000 and 11,000 competitors, with the 2024 Paris Games reporting 10,714 athletes. The Winter Games are much smaller, with 2,884 competing at Milano-Cortina.

If an Olympian chooses not to apply for this grant, their allocation will remain in the fund to benefit future Olympians. The grant will not decrease or detract from already existing support provided by the IOC to the NOCs, International Sports Federations (IFs), Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) or Olympic Solidarity.

In order to be eligible, athletes have to have participated in an Olympics with an Aa accreditation—given to competing athletes at the Games, as opposed to Ap athletes who are alternates or non-competing replacements—and can’t have committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation, violated the IOC Code of Ethics, the Conditions of Participation, or the Olympic Charter.

“It has been a topic of conversation for many years, and I am extremely proud that we are now able to do this,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said.

“Fit for the Future” is the name of a broader strategy approved by the IOC this week, proposed by Coventry, which includes five themes – Athletes, Olympic Games, Olympic Movement, Olympic Impact, and Engagement and Revenue – each with a goal and key objectives to be achieved by 2032.

“Our responsibility is to build on the strong foundations that have been laid by those who came before us. Our responsibility is to prepare for generations that will follow us,” Coventry said. “Fit for the Future is designed to build on those strengths. It was designed as a genuine opportunity to listen, to reflect and to shape the future of our Movement together.”

Last month, Coventry was quoted in an interview saying she didn’t believe in paying athletes, which caused plenty of backlash from some well-known Olympic competitors, including swimming gold medalist Cameron McEvoy.

Coventry quickly released a statement a few days later clarifying what she said in the interview, distinguishing the fact that her original comments were specifically about not believing in paying Olympic athletes prize money, and that she wasn’t against broader athlete payment.