After the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, the USOPC increased payouts as part of its Operation Gold program by 25% for 2017, and 50% for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. No such increase is coming after the Tokyo Olympics, though, at least not for the 2022.
A USOPC spokesperson told SwimSwam this week that the Operation Gold payouts for 2022 will remain unchanged, and that any final decisions about 2023 and 2024 will likely be made after the Winter Olympics and Paralympics wrap in March.
Other federations, however, have already published unchanged payouts through the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Summer Olympic/Paralympic Sport Operation Gold Payouts 2022-2024
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| 1st | $6,250 | $7,500 | $37,500 |
| 2nd | $5,000 | $6,250 | $22,500 |
| 3rd | $4,375 | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| 4th | $3,750 | $4,375 | |
| 5th | $3,125 | $3,750 | |
| 6th | $3,125 | $3,750 | |
| 7th | $2,500 | $2,500 | |
| 8th | $2,500 | $2,500 |
The USOPC designates one event for each US sport federation as the Operation Gold event in non-Olympic years. In swimming, that is usually the long course World Championships when available, though with FINA telling federations that there would be no long course World Championship event in 2022 in swimming, nor water polo, synchro, or diving World Championships.
For USA Swimming, this leaves uncertainty about what the Operation Gold meet might be, with no major international long course event currently in the cards. There is a Short Course World Championship scheduled for the end of 2022, but that’s not a meet that USA swimming has typically taken as seriously as the long course edition.
If USA Swimming scrambles its top athletes into an alternative international competition, such as the Mare Nostrum series, there are rules about the depth of competition. Payouts to 8th place are only made if the top 10 countries in the world participate. If the top 7-9 countries participate, payouts will include up to 5th place. If the top 4-6 ranked countries are present, payouts will include up to 3rd place.
Maximum Awards
In Olympic and Paralympic years, athletes only get paid the for their highest finish at the Operation Gold meet. In other words, if an athlete gets two golds and two silvers, they don’t receive ($6,250 + $6,250 + $5,000 + $5,000), they receive just $6,250 for their highest finish.
In non-Olympic years, however, athletes receive a payment for each top three finish.
Loophole for NCAA Athletes
The USOPC also has the opportunity to designate certain elite-level events with prize money as “Enhanced Operation Gold” events. In 2021, this program for swimming included the Short Course World Championships.
While NCAA athletes are generally still not allowed to collect prize money from competition in swimming beyond actual expenses, this Enhanced Operation Gold program is a bit of a loophole.
NCAA rules allow athletes to accept prize money from the USOPC Operation Gold program, or international equivalents, as we saw when Missy Franklin cashed in big on her four gold medals from the 2012 Olympics, and Joseph Schooling cashed in even bigger, over $750,000, from his Rio 2016 gold medal without impacting their prize money.
The USOPC Enhanced Operation Gold program allows prize money from those meets to be paid to USA Swimming, rather than athletes directly, and then distributed as part of the Operation Gold program. FINA allows prize money for individual events at World Championship meets to be paid directly to athletes or to their federations.
