Each of the gold medals set to be awarded at the 2026 Winter Olympics contains six grams of the precious metal, surrounding 500 grams of silver—together worth more than $2,000, thanks in part to the historic rallies of each. But for athletes from certain countries, the value of that medal will be far greater.

Ahead of the Milan Cortina Games, which officially begin with Friday’s opening ceremony, Forbes contacted the national Olympic committees or government sports ministries of all 92 countries and territories competing and confirmed that at least 37 of them are offering cash bonuses to any of their athletes who win medals.

The potential awards for a gold medal in an individual sport range from roughly $3,000 for athletes from New Zealand to $787,000 for athletes from Singapore, converted to U.S. dollars at Wednesday’s exchange rates. In all, 13 countries and territories are pledging to fork over at least $100,000 to any individual gold medalist. (Three other delegations—Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Romania—said the exact amounts of one-time payments had yet to be determined, and Luxembourg said it was keeping its bonus arrangements confidential.)

Those bonuses come on top of training stipends, grants and other benefits, such as scholarships and medical insurance, that may be given to elite athletes. (One new perk for Team USA: Thanks to a $100 million donation from Stone Ridge Holdings Group founder Ross Stevens, each U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete will receive $100,000 toward retirement, regardless of their results at the Games, and their families will receive an additional $100,000 after they die.)

In some cases, the payouts extend even to athletes who finish off the podium. For example, although the two Alpine skiers set to represent tiny Cyprus are long shots for the $177,000 that the island’s Olympic committee is offering for a gold medal performance, they can still claim about $94,000 for coming in fourth. Even a 16th-place finish would be worth $12,000.

Exactly how each country calculates its bonuses can differ. In the United States, which sits in the middle of the bonus pack with a $37,500 award for gold medalists, all athletes receive the same prize from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, regardless of whether they compete in an individual sport or as part of a team. Czechia, by contrast, works from a table listing 12 different rewards based on the number of athletes in the event. So while a skeleton champion, for example, might collect $117,000, a gold medalist in men’s ice hockey would earn about $31,000.

One other key difference is how each country takes care of athletes who win multiple medals. For instance, Americans will pocket the full bonus amount for each top-three finish whereas Finnish medalists’ compensation is capped at about $118,000, or the equivalent of two bonuses for individual gold.

Depending on the country, the bounty might be paid by either the national Olympic committee or the government—or both—and the money isn’t always limited to the athlete competing. In Slovenia, for example, the Olympic committee........

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