The Olympics have returned, this time to Paris, and sports fans throughout the world are taking a break from politics, war, global warming, and the wearying slog of everyday life. The festival kicked off with a weird, rain-soaked spectacle of an opening ceremony. But quickly our TV schedules filled with the sort of sports we rarely get to see, including fencing, wrestling, and horse dancing, aka dressage. (Sorry, curling fans, you’ll have to wait until 2026 to see your favorite teams sweeping the ice.) As we write these words on Monday night, Team USA is leading the medal count with 20, although Japan has the lead in gold, with six to our three.
Olympians go for the gold in lots of ways. Some are just looking for medals—and really, is anyone going to call you a failure if that’s all you come home with? Others want to burnish a thriving professional career. (This means you, LeBron.) And others are hoping for their big break, which could mean anything from social media stardom to a picture on a Wheaties box. (Caitlin Jenner has certainly had a wild ride since winning gold in the 1976 decathlon!) And the sports fans at the IRS will have their eyes on all of them.
Medals look great in a trophy case. There’s not much financial value in the metal itself—the amount of gold in a medal is around $800, while a silver is worth $450, and a bronze might not buy your favorite footlong at Subway anymore. But think of them as “memorabilia,” and the value goes way up. Jesse Owens famously won the gold (and embarrassed the Nazis) in Berlin in 1936. His medal sold for $1.47 million in 2013. And a 1980 “Miracle on Ice” gold medal sold for $262,900 a year later.
But U.S. Olympians who medal in Paris will also bring home cash, specifically, $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. And here’s an extra patriotic bonus—in 2016, Washington passed a law that says Olympians and Paralympians don’t have to pay tax on any of those winnings!
As always, there are limits on the tax-free cash. The exclusion doesn’t apply to athletes with adjusted gross incomes over $1 million. But don’t feel too sorry for LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, or their teammates. The 12 members of our Olympic basketball team are already making a combined $504 million in regular salary. And while they’re ostensibly playing “for free” in Paris, their sneaker endorsements offer bonus money because the Olympics give them worldwide exposure. But maybe they shouldn’t take those riches for granted—one of their exhibition games nearly saw them lose to South Sudan, a country that most Americans have never even heard of that doesn’t have a single indoor basketball court!
Basketball players aren’t the only well-heeled Olympians appearing in Paris. On the golf course, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler has earned over $80 million in his career. (Even his caddy gets a $135,000 base salary.) And there will be lots of athletes we’ve never heard of yet who launch six-figure and seven-figure careers on the backs of their wins. Will the next breakout phenom be a skateboarder? A volleyball player? A breakdancer? Stay tuned!
On August 11, it all winds down with a closing ceremony. But the Games will still go on. Just last week, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City. (Hopefully, we still have winter in 2034!) The same is true of taxes. So count on us to help navigate your winnings through the maze of taxes, wherever they come from!