IOC to pay $10,000 grants to all Olympic athletes

The International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday a new fund that will pay $10,000 grants directly to every Olympic athlete who competes, starting with those at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. The initiative, called the "Fit for the Future Olympian Grant," represents the IOC's largest-ever direct financial commitment to athletes, totaling more than $100 million.

A Response to Prize Money Demands

Pau Gasol, the former NBA star who chairs the IOC Athletes' Commission, revealed the program in Lausanne, Switzerland. The fund will first be open to approximately 3,000 athletes who compete at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. Across a full four-year Olympic cycle encompassing both Summer and Winter Games, approximately 14,000 Olympians are expected to be eligible, bringing the total fund to roughly $140 million per Olympiad.thesportsexaminer+3

The grants are not prize money, Gasol clarified, but rather financial support available to all athletes who apply after competing at an Olympic Games. The commitment comes after years of increasing pressure on the IOC to share more of its revenue directly with the athletes who drive the Games' commercial value.thestar+1

From Consultation to Action

The announcement emerges from the IOC's broader "Fit for the Future" consultation process, which IOC President Kirsty Coventry initiated after taking office. That process has encompassed reforms to the Olympic program methodology and host city selection, but direct athlete payments had become the most closely watched element.anocolympic

The grant structure sidesteps the contentious debate over performance-based prize money — which World Athletics introduced at the Paris 2024 Olympics for track and field gold medalists — by offering the same amount to every competitor regardless of results. Applications for Milano Cortina 2026 athletes are expected to open later this year, with first disbursements anticipated in 2027.anocolympic+1

Broader Context

The IOC distributes the equivalent of $4.2 million per day to sport and athlete development worldwide, according to the organization. But critics have long argued that too little flows directly to the athletes themselves. The new grant program represents a structural shift, creating for the first time a guaranteed payment mechanism tied to Olympic participation rather than funneling funds exclusively through national committees and international federations.olympics