Winter Olympics 2026: How much do athletes get paid for winning medals and where does Team USA rank?

Competing for your country in the Olympics is arguably the highest honor an athlete can achieve. While participating in professional sports leagues is important, athletes often speak of representing their countries as an elevated experience compared to their everyday jobs.

While winning a medal at an international event like the Olympics is one of the ultimate displays of lifting up and supporting your country, that’s not the only reward for athletes who reach the podium. A large number of countries pay athletes for winning medals at the Olympics, with some offering significant bonuses for the accomplishment.

Which countries pay the most per medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, and which countries don’t pay at all? Thanks to a handy list compiled by USA Today, we have that answer.

An unexpected country leads the way in that category. Singapore offers $788,907 to athletes who win a gold medal at the 2026 Games. The country will pay out $394,497 for silver-medal winners and $197,282 for bronze medalists, per USA Today. Those are the highest totals for all three medals. No country will shell out more for silver and bronze medals than Singapore.

Why is that unexpected? Well, the country has won a total of six Olympic medals over its history in the Games, which began in 1948. Notably, the country has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. That stat is somewhat misleading, however, as Singapore didn’t start competing at the Winter Olympics until 2018. Prior to that, the country only appeared in the Summer Olympics.

The rest of the top-5 features — in order — Hong Kong ($767,747 for gold), Italy ($213,418 for gold), Poland ($211,268 for gold) and Slovenia ($162,672 for gold).

Italy is already set to shell out some cash for gold medals, as the host country picked up two golds in the first couple days of the 2026 Olympics.

Of the 25 countries that responded to USA Today’s inquiry, Team USA ranks in the middle of the pack. The United States pays $37,500 to athletes who win a gold medal, $22,500 for silver medalists and $15,000 for bronze-medal winners. Those figures rank 15th out of the 25 country sample.

Some countries — like Belgium, Poland and Slovakia — take things even further by offering monetary rewards to athletes who finish between fourth and eighth place, per USA Today. Poland even goes an extra step when it comes to gold medalists. In addition to a $211,268 payout, gold medalists from Poland also receive “a Toyota Corolla, fully furnished two-room apartment, painting, holiday voucher and jewelry,” per USA Today.

Notably, three countries that responded to USA Today do not offer monetary bonuses to athletes for winning medals at the Olympics. Those countries are Great Britain, Sweden and Norway. While those three don’t offer compensation for medals, they do provide financial assistance to athletes ahead of the Olympics.

As of Tuesday morning, Norway — the country with the most gold medals and overall medals in Winter Olympics history — has already won six gold medals at the 2026 Games.

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