How much do Australia's Olympic athletes get paid?

Australia's Olympic athletes are competing for eternal glory in Paris - but a payout is also on offer for those who land a place on the podium.  

The Australian Olympic Committee typically covers athletes' attendance costs, such as flights, accommodation and food, but it does not provide them with a salary. 

However, the AOC have a Medal Incentive Funding (MIF) scheme which is 'designed to incentivise the best athletes to stay in their sport and represent Australia at future Olympic Games', according to the committee's website.

If an Australian athlete wins gold they will receive $20,000; for silver it is $15,000 and for bronze it is $10,000.

This pales in comparison to countries like Singapore which reportedly pays its gold medalists the equivalent of over $1.1 million; $561,880 for a silver and $281,903 for a bronze.

It is also tempting to think that someone like Emma McKeon, Australia's most decorated Olympian who has 12 Olympic medals to her name - six golds, two silvers and four bronzes - would have earned $190,000 for efforts over the years.

But sadly this is not the case.

'An athlete can only receive one payment, their best result,' the AOC's website states. 

'In other words, multiple golds over the year do not entitle another gold payment and a silver and a bronze performance only entitles one silver payment, a "silver" achievement being the higher.'

This means that McKeon would only have received $60,000 through the MIF scheme for her performances in London, Tokyo and Paris.

Athletes who compete in team events receive the payments individually. 

'For team sports, the incentive payment is made on the number of athletes the sport can nominate under the Olympic Qualification System,' the AOC website explains. 

'As an example, for men’s basketball the team size is 12, so a payment of $120,000 is made at $10,000 per team member for their bronze achievement.'

Of course, the MIF scheme is not the only way in which athletes can earn money.

They can receive funding through grants, sponsorship deals and philanthropic investments. 

For example, Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart is the biggest individual backer of Aussie Olympic athletes. 

Through her company Hancock Prospecting, Mrs Rinehart pours an estimated $10 million a year into athlete support for swimming, rowing and volleyball.

Mrs Rinehart will also gift a pair of specially-made Rossie boots to any Australian winners in the pool. She bought the shoe company late last year. 

Aussie athletics stars will also have the opportunity to win money from their global federation. 

World Athletics recently announced a prize pool of $3.6 million, which will be used to give $76,000 to each of the gold medalists in the 48 athletics disciplines. 

'While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is,' World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.