"Earns 800 Million Won a Day" Top Earner Among Paris Olympic Athletes Revealed

1st Golf Jon Rahm, 2nd NBA LeBron James
Top 10 Dominated by Basketball and Golf Players

Among the approximately 10,000 athletes participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics, the athlete with the highest annual income was Jon Rahm (Spain) from men's golf. He earned $210 million (about 291 billion KRW) in the past year alone.

Yon Ram
Photo by AP Yonhap News

On the 25th, the American sports business media outlet Sportico announced the top 20 highest-earning athletes among the Paris Olympic participants. The top spot was taken by Rahm, who plays for LIV Golf, sponsored by Saudi Arabian capital.

He earned $210 million (about 291 billion KRW) in the most recent year ending June 30, setting the highest record. This amounts to nearly 800 million KRW per day. Rahm earned significantly more than the athlete in second place, largely because he left the PGA Tour at the end of last year and moved to LIV Golf, receiving a huge transfer fee.

Next, LeBron James (USA), who plays for the NBA's LA Lakers, ranked second with an income of $127 million (about 175.6 billion KRW). The third to fifth places were also dominated by NBA players: Stephen Curry ($101.9 million, USA), Giannis Antetokounmpo ($100.8 million, Greece), and Kevin Durant ($89.7 million, USA), respectively.

Following them, golf players Rory McIlroy ($77.9 million, Ireland) and Scottie Scheffler ($62.6 million, USA) ranked sixth and seventh, while eighth to tenth places were again NBA players: Joel Embiid ($57.7 million, USA), Nikola Joki? ($54.7 million, Serbia), and Devin Booker ($48.1 million, USA).

While the top 10 were dominated by golf and basketball players, expanding the range to the top 20 included two tennis players. Carlos Alcaraz ($45 million, Spain) ranked 13th, and Novak Djokovic ($38.7 million, Serbia) ranked 18th, both making the list of tennis players within the top 20. Among the top 20, basketball players were the most numerous with 13, followed by golf with 5, and tennis with 2.

The highest-earning female athlete was tennis player Coco Gauff, who served as the flag bearer for the U.S. team, earning $25.6 million, although she did not make it into the top 20.