$50K US bonus to Olympic champions is a good 1st step in increasing track and field's profile

First, the good news: Olympic gold medals in track and field are now worth money, guaranteed.

Wednesday morning, World Athletics announced it would pay a $50,000 U.S. bonus to gold medallists at this summer's Olympics in Paris. The move will cost $2.4 million — about what an NBA team pays the fifth guy off the bench, but a significant sum for World Athletics, which brought in $54.9 million in revenue in 2022 and still lost money, according to that year's annual report.

The program is unique among Olympic sports, and World Athletics plans to pay all medallists at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Until now, the Olympics operated sort of like the NCAA does in the Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) era. Organizers can't pay you to compete, because that violates amateurism or something. But if competing raises your profile, you're free to monetize your fame via sponsorships.

The flaw in that setup for Olympic athletes — who are already professionals in that they train and compete full-time — jumps out immediately. If you compete in an event nobody watches, there's no bump in visibility, and no Wheaties box or trip to Disney World afterward.

And that post-Olympic window of opportunity to cash in on sponsorship deals?

It closes faster than we think.

This year's closing ceremony takes place Aug. 11; NHL training camps open less than a month later. That's just enough time for mainstream Canadian sports fans to forget all but the highest-profile Olympic champs.

We love the Olympics while they're on, but aren't obligated to pay attention eight weeks later. Brands like winners, but don't have to commit long-term to them. Olympic gold is among the most cherished titles in sport, but the reality is after you win one, nobody owes you