Olympic athletes are about to earn more than just a gold medal this year if they win their event.

International sports governing body World Athletics (WA) will start giving prize money to gold medal winners in the upcoming Paris 2024 Games. It is the first time an organization will dole out such a monetary reward for achievements in a major worldwide event.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allocated $2.4 million to the WA for the prize money awarded to gold medalists in 48 track and field events. Cash rewards are also planned for silver and bronze medalists in the next Olympic games in Los Angeles in 2028.

The Olympics is the latest event or league to give athletes more opportunities to earn more from their athletic accomplishments. In July 2021, the NCAA allowed student-athletes to make money through endorsements and NIL, otherwise known as “name, image and likeness.”

Over the last few years, these two developments signal a shift in what athletes expect for compensation in these respective events and leagues.

The Olympics need a spark to revive interest in the event. This year, NBC Universal, the U.S. broadcaster for the event, revealed last Tuesday that it had sold $1.2 billion in advertising. The media company also renewed its broadcast rights to the games until 2032, showing it is confident that this year’s edition of the Olympics will be one of its most lucrative yet. Incentivizing competitive play with more financial rewards for athletes won’t hurt that initiative.

Los Angeles on Monday received the official approval to host the 2028 Olympics, following an evaluation from the International Olympic Committee.

Los Angeles Olympics Hosting Bid News

The IOC will award the 2024 Summer Olympics to Paris after the two cities emerged as the top contenders for that event.

After originally bidding for 2024, Los Angeles has now been forced to make changes to its host contract. The city cut a deal with the IOC in July to host the 2028 Olympics should it not be awarded the 2024 Games.

The IOC’s evaluation commission signed off on those changes Monday, although some details need to be finalized.

Los Angeles received concessions for agreeing to host four years after 2024, including receiving a portion of the IOC’s surplus from the Olympics to fund youth sports programs in the city.

The city will also receive up to $2 billion from the IOC, which is up to $300 million more than it would have obtained for 2024.

The 2024 bidding process originally began with five cities, although the IOC then considered a dual award after Hamburg, Rome and Budapest all withdrew from the process.

IOC President Bach expressed discontent with a bidding process he claimed “produces too many losers,” and said the committee would seek a “win-win-win” solution.

According to USA Today, a Loyola Marymount University poll from August revealed 83 percent of L.A. residents supported hosting the Olympics in 2028.

The last Olympic Games held in the U.S. were the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. The last Summer Games in the country took place in Atlanta in 1996.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – JULY 10: IOC President Thomas Bach shakes hands with Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti on July 10, 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Photo by Robert Hradil/Getty Images)

Los Angeles officials are set to announce on Monday a deal with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. The city would thus yield the 2024 hosting honors to Paris.

LA hosting 2028 Summer Olympics

The Los Angeles 2024 Olympic Bid Committee has scheduled a press conference for 8 p.m. EST on Monday at the StubHub Center. Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to reveal the news.

This will mark the first time since 2002 that the United States will host the Olympics. Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Games that year. The last Summer Games in the U.S. were held in Atlanta in 1996.

Los Angeles (1932, 1984, 2028) and Paris (1900, 1924, 2024) now join London as the only cities to host three Olympics. Paris and LA had both been in contention to host either the 2024 or 2028 Games for several months.

Both the 2024 and 2028 Games — which will follow the 2020 Games in Tokyo — will be officially awarded at the 130th IOC session in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 13.

Los Angeles City Council president Herb Wesson’s office on Monday confirmed the deal has been reached.

“LA 2024 and the Olympic Organizing Committee have worked out a deal for Los Angeles to host the 2028 Olympic Games,” said spokeswoman Caolinn Mejza. “The LA City Council will hold an ad-hoc meeting on Friday to discuss accepting the deal.”

After the deal was officially reached, Garcetti and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo held hands to celebrate the moment.

Garcetti recently said Los Angeles would only accept the hosting opportunity if the city did not suffer greatly economically because of it.

“I don’t want the Olympics at any price,” Garcetti told ESPN in June. “I won’t accept these Games if they put the city in debt or at risk. I won’t do it if there’s not a genuine human legacy and instead it’s just a vanity party for 2 1/2 weeks.”

He also said the 2028 Games were likely the better option in an interview with Buzzfeed earlier this week.

“They are making it financially — and we are negotiating this — so attractive we would be stupid not to take 2028,” said Garcetti.

Up until September 2015, Boston had been a strong contender to host the 2024 Olympics. At the time, the grassroots #NoBostonOlympics campaign raised questions about the taxpayer cost of hosting the Games. Public approval tumbled, and Boston’s hosting bid fell apart.

Soon afterwards, an independent poll found that 88 percent of LA residents were in favor of the city hosting the 2024 Olympics.

Among the other cities that had vied for the following two Summer Games were Budapest, Hungary; Hamburg, Germany; and Rome.

The IOC has struggled to reach deals with cities willing to host the Olympics. In 2015, six European cities backed out of their bids for the 2022 Winter Games, leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing as the final candidates. Beijing eventually won.

Los Angeles’ privately funded $5.3 billion budget includes no new permanent stadiums. It instead benefits from an infrastructure boom in Southern California, which includes the $2.8 billion future home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers and the new LAFC soccer stadium. Furthermore, USC has pre-existing plans for a $270 million renovation of the historic Memorial Coliseum, and UCLA’s dorms will serve as the athletes’ village.

Garcetti stated he doesn’t expect requesting any government funds. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics are the only Games in modern history to run at a profit.

“The cost to taxpayers to put this plan together is nothing,” Garcetti said. “There’s risk. Eyes wide open, it could be something. But I’m close to 100 percent confident.”

President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this month that he was striving to bring the Olympics back to L.A. He met in the Oval Office with IOC president Thomas Bach to pledge his “full support,’’ the White House said in a statement then.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – JULY 10: IOC President Thomas Bach shakes hands with Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti on July 10, 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Photo by Robert Hradil/Getty Images)

Just one day after rejecting Rome’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Mayor Virginia Raggi stated the city is “honored” to host games for the 2020 UEFA European Championship.

Rome Accepts Hosting UEFA Euro 2020

The Italian capital’s Stadio Olimpico is set to host three group matches and a quarterfinal for the soccer tournament, which will be spread across Europe for the very first time with 13 cities slated to host matches.

“We’re honored that Rome will host such an important sports event,” Raggi said. “We want sports available to everyone.”

Prior to stating her opposition to Rome’s Olympic bid on Wednesday, Raggi didn’t attend a scheduled meeting with Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago. However, the two met at Thursday’s Euro 2020 presentation, during which Malago kissed the mayor’s hand when they crossed paths.

“I always do that with people I don’t know that well,” Malago explained.

The other Euro 2020 host cities are London; Munich, Germany; St. Petersburg, Russia; Dublin; Glasgow; Copenhagen, Denmark; Bucharest, Romania; Amsterdam; Bilbao, Spain; Budapest, Hungary; and Brussels.

These cities were all chosen before Raggi took office in June.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was also in attendance at the presentation, relishing what he called Rome’s “beauty and rich history”, and promising that the tournament will be an “unforgettable experience.”

“We are really glad to be in a country where football is so important,” said Mr Čeferin. “In 60 years, the EURO has become one of the major sporting events in the world, and this tournament will give us the perfect opportunity to bring football to the four corners of the continent.”

Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio also voiced his pride: “We are facing an important challenge now – the involvement of 13 different cities,” he said. “It’s a fascinating challenge, rewarding both our football tradition and our ability to organize events.”

Italy hosted this year’s UEFA Champions League final in Milan, as well as the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Reggio Emilia.

This year’s Euro 2016 tournament, which Portugal won in July, was held in France.

“Football is joy, passion and beauty,” Mr Tavecchio continued, “and the logo underlines the power of football to unify and share experiences. We will do extraordinary things as a team together with the other cities.”

ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 22: Roma Mayor Virginia Raggi attends the UEFA Euro Roma 2020 Official Logo unveiling at Palazzo delle Armi on September 22, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)