Representing your country in the Olympics is arguably the highest honor an athlete can receive. While playing in a professional sports league is important, athletes often say that representing their country is a superior experience compared to their day jobs.
While winning a medal at an international event like the Olympics is one of the ultimate expressions of promoting and supporting your country, it is not the only reward for athletes who reach the podium. Many countries pay athletes for winning medals at the Olympics, and some offer huge bonuses for their achievements.
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Which countries pay the most per medal at Milan Cortina 2026, and which countries don’t pay at all? We have the answer, thanks to a handy list compiled by USA Today.
An unexpected country leads the way in this category. Singapore is offering $788,907 in prize money to athletes who win gold medals at the 2026 Olympics. The country will pay $394,497 for the silver medalist and $197,282 for the bronze medalist, USA Today reported. This is the highest total of all three medals. No country will pay more for silver and bronze medals than Singapore.
Why is it unexpected? The country has won a total of six Olympic medals in its history, starting in 1948. Notably, the country has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. However, this statistic is somewhat misleading, as Singapore did not start participating in the Winter Olympics until 2018. Prior to this, the country had only participated in the Summer Olympics.
The remaining top five are Hong Kong (gold of US$767,747), Italy (gold of US$213,418), Poland (gold of US$211,268) and Slovenia (gold of US$162,672).
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Italy is ready to put down some cash for gold, as the host nation secured two gold medals in the first days of the 2026 Olympics.
Of the 25 countries that responded to the USA TODAY survey, the U.S. team ranked in the middle of the pack. The United States pays $37,500 to athletes who win gold medals, $22,500 to silver medalists, and $15,000 to bronze medalists. These figures rank 15th among a sample of 25 countries.
Some countries, such as Belgium, Poland and Slovakia, even go a step further and offer monetary rewards to athletes who finish fourth to eighth, according to USA Today. In terms of gold medalists, Poland even went one step further. In addition to a $211,268 prize, the gold medal winner from Poland received “a Toyota Corolla, a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment, paintings, vacation vouchers and jewelry,” USA Today reported.
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Notably, the three countries that responded to USA TODAY do not offer bonuses to athletes who win medals at the Olympics. These countries are the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway. While the three organizations do not provide medal compensation, they do provide financial assistance to athletes in the lead-up to the Olympics.
As of Tuesday morning, Norway – the country with the most gold medals and total medals in Winter Olympics history – had won six gold medals at the 2026 Winter Games.