Overview
- Modern gold medals are mostly silver with roughly six grams of gold, placing a Milano-Cortina gold’s metal value near $2,300–$2,500.
- Silver medals contain about 525 grams of sterling silver worth roughly $1,300–$1,400, while bronze is worth only a few dollars by materials.
- The IOC pays no prize money; Team USA’s Operation Gold awards $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze.
- Some nations offer far larger rewards, led by Singapore (~$792,000 for gold) and Hong Kong (~$768,000), with Italy (~$214,000) and South Korea (~$208,000) also high, while Poland adds a car, an apartment, art, and other gifts for medalists.
- A 2016 U.S. law lets many athletes exclude medal bonuses from federal income tax, and a $100 million Ross Stevens gift grants $200,000 in future benefits to each U.S. Olympian and Paralympian competing in 2026.