If you think that Canadian Olympic athletes are in it for the money, think again.
While being an Olympic athlete certainly has its perks, they often aren’t raking in the money many watching would assume. That is especially true when it comes to those representing Canada.
Take short-track speed skater Courtney Sarault, for example. The 25-year-old is currently Canada’s most decorated athlete of Milano Cortina 2026, having racked up two silver medals along with a bronze. That serves as three of the 12 medals Canada has won so far at this year’s Games.
One would think that performing so well on such a big stage would result in quite the pay day for Sarault, though that isn’t exactly the case.
The money received by Canadian athletes comes from the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Excellence Fund.
They pay $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze. Each Canadian athlete who medals also receives an additional $5,000 from The Malaviya Foundation, created by health-care technology entrepreneur Sanjay Malaviya, as reported by CBC.
All of that added up means that Sarault will be leaving Italy $55,000 richer. That is a significant amount of money, though it is less than what some athletes born in different countries are receiving.
For example, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee are paying their athletes $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. And that’s on the low end of things.
Just three countries — Great Britain, Sweden, and Norway — don’t pay their athletes at all. On the other end of the scale, CNBC reports that Singapore athletes rake in US$792,500 for gold, US$395,000 for silver, and US$197,000 for bronze.
Hong Kong is similar, paying athletes a staggering US$768,000 for winning gold. Poland, meanwhile, pays their athletes US$211,000 for gold, while also giving them a Toyota Corolla, a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment, a painting, a holiday voucher, and jewellery.
All figures are converted to USD and rounded to the nearest $1,000 (CNBC)
Canada’s athletes coming in so low on the pay scale makes it all the more impressive, knowing they are doing so for nothing much more than pride. Canada has racked up 12 medals so far at the 2026 Olympics, including three gold.
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