Paris Olympics Medal Bonuses Reduced by Almost 90% from Amounts Offered at Tokyo Olympics

On Mar. 26 the JAAF board of directors met to finalize a variety of issues for the upcoming year. One topic was the bonuses to be paid to medalists at this summer’s Paris Olympics. Gold medalists will receive 3 million yen [~$19,800 USD], silver medalists 2 million yen [~$13,200], and bronze medalists 1 million yen [~$6,600]. Athletes who finish 4th through 8th in finals will receive from 800,000 yen to 400,000 yen [~$5300 to ~$2650]. All amounts are the same as those that were offered for last summer’s World Championships. For relays, all athletes who compete during the heats or final will receive half the above amounts.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalists received a 5 million yen bonus [~$45,000 USD at the exchange rate at that time]. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics that was increased to 10 million yen [~$93,000 in 2008 and ~$125,000 in 2012]. For the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and 2021 Tokyo Olympics it was further increased to 20 million yen [~$190,000 in 2016 and ~$180,000 in 2021].

The JAAF began cutting the level of the bonuses it paid beginning with the 2022 Oregon World Championships, citing the deterioration of its financial situation since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. That situation has not reverted significantly this year, leading to the major reduction in bonuses at the Paris Olympics. A JAAF spokesperson commented, “The reality is that our budget has become much tighter, but the amounts in our program are in line with those for the World Championships. We would like to support medalists in other ways, such as supporting their training costs.” The spokesperson clarified that not all medalists would be eligible for such support.

The JAAF board also finalized the selection criteria for the 2025 Tokyo World Championships marathon teams. The highest priority will be given to the top-placing Japanese athletes among medalists in this summer’s Paris Olympics women’s and men’s marathon. 2nd priority goes to the winners of the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV (JMC). In both cases, they will be automatically named to the Worlds team if they have cleared the qualification standard within the window. If they have not cleared the standard but are within the world rankings quota at the close of the qualification window, they will be confirmed for the team at that point.

Qualification standards for international championship marathons have continued to tighten dramatically. For the 2025 Tokyo World Championships they are 2:06:30 for men and 2:23:30 for women. For this summer’s Paris Olympics they are 2:08:10 and 2:26:50. For last summer’s Budapest World Championships they were 2:09:40 and 2:28:00. The qualification window for Tokyo runs from Nov. 5, 2023 to May 4, 2025. Currently the only Japanese athletes to have met the standards are Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) for men, and Paris Olympic team member Honami Maeda (Tenmaya), Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu), Yuka Ando (Wacoal), Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) and Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) among women.

JMC Series IV includes races held between April, 2023 and March, 2025. Final selection race opportunities will be in domestic Grade 1 races from Mar. 31, 2024 to March, 2025. Athletes will also be offered a place on the team if they set a new national record in a World Athletics platinum label race outside Japan. One alternate will also be named to both the women’s and men’s teams.