In an Olympics first, track and field gold medalists to be awarded prize money

Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse has more on the California railway project's challenges on 'Special Report.' 

Track and field is set to become the first sport to introduce prize money at the Olympics, with World Athletics saying Wednesday it would pay $50,000 to gold medalists in Paris.

The move is a symbolic break with the amateur past of the Olympics in one of the games' most-watched events.

The governing body of athletics said it was setting aside $2.4 million to pay the gold medalists across the 48 events on the track and field program for this year's Paris Olympics. Relay teams will split the $50,000 between their members. Payments for silver and bronze medalists are planned to start from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS: UNDERSTANDING IOC FRAMEWORK ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETE PARTICIPATION

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe told reporters that the move is meant "to recognize that the revenue share that we receive is in large part because our athletes are the stars of the show."

The prize money will come out of the share of Olympic revenue that the IOC distributes to World Athletics.

However, the move could upset the balance of power in the Olympic movement ahead of the Paris Games. Coe said World Athletics only gave the International Olympic Committee "a heads-up" of its intentions on Wednesday morning, shortly before it published its announcement. The IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the World Athletics plan.

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy poses with his gold medal following the men's 100-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. Track and field is set to become the first sport to introduce prize money at the