How Much Prize Money Is On Offer For Hong Kong Athletes At The Paris Paralympics 2024?

A month back, sports fans in Hong Kong were rooting for their hometown heroes at the Paris Olympics 2024. Now, the parathletes are the ones in focus. So far, they have done a great job that is worthy of appreciation.

Before we talk about the event at length, here are some quick facts about the Paralympics 2024:

• Date: 28 August to 8 September
• Venue: Paris, France

Hong Kong is one of the veterans of the Paralympic Games, making its 14th appearance this year. The onus will be on the athletes to add to our decorated tally of medals at this sports meet. For context, Hong Kong is one of the most successful Asian nations in the history of the Paralympics with 131 medals to date — 40 gold, 39 silver and 52 bronze.

Leslie Lam won Hong Kong’s first medal (silver) at the Paralympics in 1972. Meanwhile, the women’s 4x400m relay team in athletics won our first-ever gold at the marquee sports meet in 1984.

Our performance in Paris this year has been remarkable to date. With two gold, three silver and a bronze medal, our overall medals tally in 2024 stands at six. Perhaps our parathletes have drawn inspiration from the successful contingent at the Olympics last month where the medals tally, with two gold medals (both in fencing), stood at four.

Just like the Olympic medallists, the successful athletes at the Paralympics are also eligible for monetary rewards based on their performances. So scroll away to learn about the prize money the medal-winning athletes (gold, silver and bronze medal winners) from Hong Kong at the Paralympics 2024 will take home.

Paris Paralympics 2024: Everything to know about the multi-sports meet

Here’s the prize money structure for the medal-winning Hong Kong athletes at the Paralympics 2024

According to Fortune, the prize money structure for the Hong Kong medallists at the Paralympics 2024, as announced by the China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee, is as follows:

• Gold: HKD 1.5 million (USD 192,000 approx.)
• Silver: HKD 750,000 (USD 96,000 approx.)
• Bronze: HKD 375,000 (USD 48,000 approx.)

Now how do these amounts compare to the payouts the Olympic medallists from Hong Kong received? Here is a look at the prize money that they pocketed:

• Gold: HKD 6 million (USD 770,000 approx.)
• Silver: HKD 3 million (USD 385,000 approx.)
• Bronze: HKD 1.5 million (USD 192,000 approx.)

Obviously, there is a huge disparity in the pay that the Paralympic athletes and their Olympic counterparts take home. However, the gulf is slowly being bridged with time. For instance, the prize money that the parathletes are eligible for in 2024 is double of what they received in Tokyo three years back.

How does the prize money structure for Hong Kong compare with the rest of the nations at the Paralympics 2024?

It turns out that Hong Kong has one of the highest prize money structures on offer for the medallists at the Paralympics 2024. Singapore holds the top spot on that list.

According to reports, here is a look at the top five countries with the highest payouts at the Paralympic Games this year:

1. Singapore

• Gold: USD 380,000
• Silver: USD 230,000
• Bronze: USD 115,000

2. Israel

• Gold: USD 273,000
• Silver: USD 192,000
• Bronze: USD 137,000

3. Malaysia

• Gold: USD 230,000
• Silver: USD 70,000
• Bronze: USD 23,000

4. Hong Kong

• Gold: USD 192,000
• Silver: USD 96,000
• Bronze: USD 48,000

5. Spain

• Gold: USD 105,000
• Silver: USD 54,000
• Bronze: USD 34,000

Where to live stream the Paris Paralympics 2024 in Hong Kong

According to the International Paralympic Committee, fans in Hong Kong can live stream the Paris Paralympics 2024 on RTHK, the official broadcaster in this Asian region.

(Main and Featured Images Credits: China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee/Facebook)