It is the pinnacle of any Olympian’s career.
Winning a gold, silver or bronze medal is the reward for years of sacrifice and gruelling training sessions hidden from the public gaze.
But none of the competitors taking part in the Tokyo Olympics are being paid by the organisers for their participation in the $15.4bn event.
American TV network NBC alone paid $7.7bn for the broadcasting rights to the summer and winter games until 2032, and has sold $1.25bn in advertising for Tokyo 2020.
And the International Olympic Committee stands to make between $3bn and $4bn from the television rights to the games, according to the Associated Press.
But that money is not being shared with the 11,000 athletes taking part in the Olympics, or the 4,000 at the Paralympics.
The IOC, which promotes the games, does not hand out prize money for finishing in the top three of an event, but provides the medals and sends an “Olympic diploma”, a certificate, to all those who finish in the top eight.
However, most Olympic medal winners do receive a cash reward from their home Olympic committee.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays members of Team USA $37,500 for each gold medal they win, $22,500 for every silver, and $15,000 for a bronze.
Some countries, mostly those who win very few medals, are much more generous with their prize money, according to moneyunder30.com.
Singapore pays its athletes $744,000 for a gold, $372,000 for silver and $286,000 for a bronze.
Hong Kong gives out $644,000 for a gold, $322,000 for a silver and $161,000 for a bronze.
Malaysia, in addition to providing $241,000 for gold, $72,200 for silver and $24,100 for a bronze, also pays a monthly salary to its medalists for life.
This is around $1,182 for a gold, $709 for a silver and $473 for a bronze.
Team GB does not provide prizes for medal winners, but they receive an annual training stipend and UK Sport provides £125m of government and lottery funds to support Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Competitors at the games do of course make money from corporate sponsorship deals, with Usain Bolt estimated to have made $30m a year as he dominated sprinting.