Fresh twist in Australia’s $20,000 bonus for Olympic medallists

Australians who finished on the Olympic podium in Tokyo are poised to receive a big monetary bonus – but there’s a catch.

Australian Olympians who finished on the podium in Tokyo will not receive a monetary bonus if they retire after the Games.

As revealed last month, the Australian Olympic Committee offers a $20,000 cash bonus for Olympic gold medallists, while silver medallists and bronze medallists take home $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.

However, the ABC reports not all Olympic champions will receive the payment, with the AOC confirming it will not give money to retiring athletes.

The Medal Incentive Funding (MIF) is “an annual athlete incentive scheme” that prevents athletes from receiving the bonus if they stop competing at an elite level.

“MIF aims to incentivise athletes to continue training, with the goal of representing Australia at the next Olympic Games, summer and winter,” an AOC statement said.

“Athletes must maintain appropriate training regimes with the intention of gaining national selection in the following year in order to receive the payment.”

However, these rules will not apply to Australia’s Paralympians.

“Every Australian Paralympian who received a medal for their performance at the Tokyo Games will receive a bonus payment,” sports minister Richard Colbeck said.

“This includes any athlete who is planning to retire.”

The MIF is funded entirely by the AOC, which is independent of the federal government.

“Funding for the scheme comes from our commercial program, Team Appeal which including state government contributions, and distributions from the Australian Olympic Foundation,” the AOC confirmed.

If any of these athletes retire, they’re set to lose tens of thousands. Photo by James Chance/Getty Images

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia’s Paralympic medallists will for the first time receive equivalent bonus payments to their Olympic counterparts.

Speaking before the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister said the move recognised the “national significance” of the Paralympic team.

Prior to Mr Morrison’s announcement, the Paralympic athletes did not receive any monetary bonuses for winning medals.

This year’s Paralympics featured more than 4500 athletes representing 163 different countries.

Australia finished seventh on the Tokyo Paralympic Games medal tally with 21 gold, 29 silver and 30 gold medals.

– with Jasper Bruce, NCA NewsWire