Are you wondering if Olympians get paid for their medal-winning exploits?
While Olympic medals are highly sought-after accolades, receiving one doesn’t come with any financial bonuses directly from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organizers of the Games.
This is because the Games originated as an amateur competition intended to champion athletic success and the spirit of sports. Instead, the IOC spreads its money far and wide to further help the development of sport and its athletes.
However, there are more direct methods for athletes to earn money via their success at the Games.
The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee for one, has their Operation Gold grant program, which awards stipends to US athletes who finish in the top-three places in each event at the Olympic Games.
The money awarded varies by medal. Here’s a breakdown from US Paralympics Swimming officials:
Gold medal: $37,500
Silver medal: $22,500
Bronze medal: $15,000
If an athlete has multiple top-three finishes at the Olympic Games, they are eligible for multiple Operation Gold awards, accord to US Paralympics Swimming.
And of course, medalists are set for big paydays from sponsors with some of the top earners pulling in millions of dollars for their Olympic success.
As some of the world’s top athletes gather in northern Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics, many may enjoy the country’s pasta and pizza while sticking closely to their optimal nutrition routines and plans.
For many Olympians, knowing when and what to eat can be just as crucial as the hours spent training on the ice, snow or track.
Inside the Milan Olympic Village’s main dining hall, where athletes and team officials gather throughout the day, there are various menus tailored to athletes’ nutritional needs and cultural preferences. The scale of the operation includes preparing about 3,000 eggs and approximately 450 kilograms (almost 1,000 pounds) of pasta each day, according to the Olympics website.
The main dining hall serves about 3,400 meals per day, across six food stations — and those meals go hand in hand with training.
Nutrition supports the “actual physical training” and fuels peak performance, said Kristen Gravani, a performance and food allergy dietitian at Stanford University who has worked with numerous Olympic athletes.
Of course, due to how active they are, most Olympic athletes probably consume and burn more energy than the average person. For instance, during his Olympic training, US competitive swimmer Michael Phelps claimed to consume 10,000 calories in a day, and Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake said 16 ripe bananas every day were his secret for running.
But calorie intake and extreme eating habits aside, there are some key practices in Olympic athletes’ training and nutrition that the average person can emulate.
Read more about how you can train like an Olympian here.
After delighting onlookers with a series of stylish cameos at the Paris Games in 2024, Snoop Dogg is back at the Olympics with a new, slightly more official, job: coach. The gig comes with a fresh wardrobe of looks cooler than the snow-capped Italian alps.
So far, he’s been spotted draped in a full-length, white fluffy coat and fire engine-red hat and gloves, watching the women’s downhill race, and casually chatting with onlookers at the curling mixed doubles, adorned in a zip-jacket emblazoned with Team USA players’ faces.
Wandering the icy streets of Cortina in a furry hat, houndstooth coat and enough swagger to make the snowflake medal hanging from his neck jangle in agreement, Coach Snoop (as one of his beanies reads) appears in his element.
It’s the first time Team USA has had an honorary coach, a volunteer role that involves Snoop lending “his signature humor and heart to help motivate Team USA athletes,” according to the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
The rapper-turned-hype man is a longtime sports fan, popping up in sometimes unexpected ways. Last July he became co-owner and investor in the Welsh football club, Swansea City. He was a torch-bearer at the 2024 Paris Games – and did so again at this year’s Winter Olympics. Much like in 2024, Snoop is reprising his role as a special correspondent for NBC, bringing his distinctive bold and flamboyant style and a genuine enthusiasm for whichever sport he happens to be commentating on – or throwing himself into, flailing limbs and all.
“It’s going down in Cortina,” he told NBC while walking the festive streets ahead of the opening ceremony, in sunglasses. “We got the beautiful people, good food, high fashion. I mean, I’m having a blast.”
Read more about Coach Snoop in Italy here.
Hello everyone and welcome back to CNN’s coverage of the Olympic Games! We’re on Day 11 and we’re still in the thick of it as today we’ve got seven golds up for grabs and the women’s figure skating getting underway.
I’ve decided to welcome you today in Japanese due to the incredible comeback in the pair skating last night. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara sat in fifth place after the short program and needed a big free skate performance to get onto the podium.
Well, the duo from Japan did that and more – they performed a fantastic routine that my colleague Holly Yan said was “the Miura/Kihara we know and love,” scoring an incredible season-best 158.13 to rocket into the lead.
As the pair watched on, other competitors failed to reach the standard they set to the “Gladiator” soundtrack, and after the gold-medal favorite German duo of Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes in their routine, Miura and Kihara were confirmed Olympic champions.
The result was a great reminder that the Olympics are always unpredictable and providing drama, as well as some of the greatest stories that can be told (several of which we’ll have for you today).
So make yourself (or order) a coffee, sit back, relax and follow the Olympics here with us.