Richest Athletes at the Milan-Cortina Olympics 2026

The Olympic Games of Milan-Cortina 2026 are coming to an end. In these two weeks of sport at its maximum expression, the various Italian Olympic venues hosted around 2900 athletes coming from more than 90 countries all over the world. In addition to the honor of representing your country in the highest global sporting competition, the Games are a life-changing experience, also in terms of visibility. Most winter disciplines are not economically profitable as perhaps other sports like could be tennis, soccer e basket. And, in fact, the vast majority of income, for many athletes, comes from agreements sponsorship with sports brands and more. Among these there is no shortage of azzurriwho scored one in Milan-Cortina historic record Of medals at the Winter Games. But the stellar receipts they also come from overseas. This is the case of the Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu or North American hockey stars, regularly paid by their clubs NHL with contracts six zeros.

Then there is the medal factor. Reaching the Olympic podium does not only represent the highest expression of gloria sportybut can also guarantee rich checks. The burden of paying Olympic medalists’ fees lies with the individuals Federationsas the International Olympic Committee does not provide cash prizes. And the overall figure changes above all based on the color of the medal and the country being represented. If he United States they do not go beyond 37 thousand dollars for one gold, leaving the rest to private sponsors, on the contrary, other countries can go as far as half a million dollars because victories of this kind are considered prestigious for the image of the nation. And in Italy? The athletes are paid by the CONIwhich has outlined a prize structure among the highest in Europe: whoever wins a gold, in fact, pockets it 180mila euro (gross), for silver instead 90 mileswhich go down to 60mila for third place on the podium.

Eileen Gu (sci freestyle, China)

She’s not just the female athlete anymore decorated in the Olympic history of freestyle skiing, with 5 medals in two editions, but it is also the richer of these Winter Games, at least according to estimates Forbes. The American finance magazine places it among the fourth place among athletes highest paid in the worldbehind the tennis players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka e Iga Świątekwith a fee of 23 million dollars. Already Olympic champion in Big Air and Halfpipe in Beijing 2022, alone 18 years oldthe skier born in 2003 won two silvers in Milan-Cortina. But most of his income does not come from fees related to his sporting activity. In fact, for the victories in slopestyle and halfpipe at the 2025 World Cup, the Chinese athlete earned “only” 40mila dollarshe still estimates Forbes. Rather, it is agreements that guarantee her millions in compensation sponsorship that Gu has signed up over the course of his career, including Chinese sponsors such as AntaBosideng, Mengniu Dairy and Luckin Coffee. But also numerous fashion brands, with which she has already been collaborating for several years, she reports”The Athletic. To contribute largely to his commercial successof course, is social media: Gu almost counts 7 million son the Chinese platform Weiboplus another 5 million on Instagram.

Auston Matthews (hockey, USA)

The list of the highest paid athletes cannot be missing: players from the NHLthe league of hockey most important in the world. There is at the top Auston Matthews28-year-old center of the Toronto Maple Leafs which, according to estimates by Forbesis the only player to have passed 20 million dollars in earnings in a single season for the last 15 years. Not to mention the appreciation of sponsors such as Nike e Prime (wrestler and content creator Logan Paul’s sports drink) that they would pay him another 5 million per year. But Matthews is just the spearhead. The sum of the entire roster’s compensation USA is worth approx 226 million dollarsmore than any other team present at the Italian Olympic Games. In fact, they also appear in the Stars and Stripes national team Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk e Quinn Hugheswhich exceed 10 million dollars in annual salary.

Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin (sci alpino, USA)

The queen of American downhill was one of the most anticipated athletes at the Olympic Games, the last of her career. The free descent of 41 onewho showed up in Milan-Cortina with a spinal injury ligament crusaderlasted only a few seconds because of a fall which caused her fracture left legthus forcing her to stay in Italy to undergo several surgical operations. During his 24 years old at the top of alpine skiing, with three Olympic medals (including a gold in downhill at Vancouver 2010), Vonn has entered into agreements with over a dozen brandsincluding Land Rover, Rolex and Delta Air Lines. His annual earnings, Forbes estimates, would amount to approximately 8 million dollars a yearincluding sporting results, which for Vonn translate into little more than 200 thousand Swiss francs regarding this season.

A figure that is also close to the other great stars and stripes alpine skiing champion, Mikaela Shiffrinwhich annually would generate approximately 7 million dollars. However, it is in the seasonal prize money that the 30-year-old Olympic champion wins the “challenge” with her compatriot. Over the course of this season, in fact, Shiffrin has gotten closer to half a million dollarsaccording to data published by the FIS. A figure that, most likely, will rise further after the Olympic gold won in the slalom at Milano-Cortina 2026, with which she became the first to do so in the same discipline 12 years after the last victory.

Chloe Kim (snowboard, USA)

American born in 2000, la snowboarder she is the richest athlete in her sport. And it is also one of the most successful: solo 17 yearsin fact, Kim won the Olympic gold in the halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018, a result then also confirmed at Beijing 2022. And Milan-Cortina for the US champion theargento and, therefore, the third medal in three consecutive Games. Furthermore, the results obtained in her career make her one of the richest athletes of these Winter Olympics. Even in his case, they are not the prize money to constitute the majority of its income. The 25-year-old American, in fact, collaborates with numerous brands such as Breitling, Monster Energy and Nike for a total of 4 million a yearaccording to estimates Sports Illustrated.

Jutta Leerdam (speed skating, Netherlands)

Already silver in Beijing, in 2022, the Dutch skater dominated the women’s 1000m speed skating, taking her first gold with an Olympic record time (1:12.31). In two weeks to Milanowhere she also won a silver in the 500m, the 27-year-old would have earned just over 40mila dollars. A figure which, however, would not be even remotely close to his earnings real. In addition to his exceptional and indisputable talent on the ice, in fact, Leerdam is also a social media stara popularity that attracts very rich agreements of sponsorship. After the 1000 m race, the speed skater celebrated her Olympic record by opening her racing suit and thus showing a sports bra Nike. And behind the celebration that went viral on social media there would be a move by marketing and 1 million dollars. The Dutch chain would also be added to the sports brand Hema that he would promote a eyeliner waterproof resistant even to tears of joy shed by Leerdam after his historic triumph on the Milanese track. His enormous following on social media certainly contributes to the figures mentioned, with 9.6 million followers overall between Instagram (more than 6 million) and Tik Tok (3 million), in addition to the numbers of individual posts: 20 of his latest videos, in fact, would have totaled around 250 million views. According to estimates by Forbesthe 27-year-old would have collected fees this year equal to 1.5 million dollars.

Ilia Malinin (figure skating, USA)

He was one of the protagonists of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. From backflip “mortal” which also left the tennis player speechless Novak Djokovic to tears for the mistakes that took him away from podium in the men’s figure skating competition, the 21-year-old American left his mark on his first Olympic expedition, with a oro conquered in Team Event. But in singles, the performance was seriously affected by pressure of a race in which he was widely favored, also because in his homeland they nicknamed him “Quad God“, the God of quadruple jumps. In addition to a crystalline talent, the very young stars and stripes athlete also boasts earnings stellarwhich lead him to be one of the sportsmen richer of these Games. Despite the skating artistic you don’t capture ‘mainstream’ attention, he explains for example ForbesMalinin cashed in 700 thousand dollars in the last 12 months, most of which arise from advertising revenue. And the American magazine even defines it as “marketing gold”, but places the victory of the most precious Olympic metal as an essential condition.

Federica Brignone (alpine skiing, Italy)

Ten months ago she didn’t even know if she would be able to put on skis in time for the Games. And instead he surpassed the expectations of everyone, perhaps even his own, winning two gold medals (one in giant slalom and the other in Super G). In addition to being one of the stronger skiers in circulation, as demonstrated by the bow dedicated to her after the gold in slalom, Brignone is also one of the most popular globally. And in fact, about 700 thousand Swiss francs of prize money won last season from FIS competitions, add the revenues obtained from sponsorshipswhose figures could rise exponentially after Brignone’s triumphal rides in the Italian Alps. According to the Gazzetta dello SportIn fact, the 35-year-old skier’s brand could approach a value of 10 million euros. In her 15-year career at the highest levels, the Italian Olympic champion has signed agreements with companies such as Banca Generali, Acqua Dolomia, Enel, EA7 Armani, Estee Lauder, Caffè Borbone, Grana Padano, Samsung and Courmayeur Monte Bianco, as well as technical sponsors led by the French brand Rossignol. Thanks to the double success at the Games, the Italian champion is also popular on social media, going from 350 thousand to around 480mila followers in the last 7 days. To broaden the horizons of its commercial activities there would also be the brand Tigrethe image printed on his casco which is called Hero Giant FIS and is produced by Rossignol, which will generate royalties. And there would also be a planned documentary film about his story of pain and triumph that should be screened next time Venice Film Festival.

Sofia Goggia (alpine skiing, Italy)

Three the Olympic medals conquered by the champion from Bergamo in the last three editions of the Games. His has arrived at Milano-Cortina 2026 first bronze in the downhill, which thus allowed her to update hers palmares and complete a historic hat-trick at the Winter Olympics. A board decorated like this makes Goggia one of the most talented athletes known and admired throughout the world, also by virtue of its international results. And it is for this reason that the blue represents one of the main testimonials for sports brands and beyond. Brands such as Dainese, Komperdell, Atomic Ski, Redbull, EA7, Kiko and Merida would contribute to the compensation annual of the 33 year old from Bergamo. There are no official numbers on the proceeds generated by Goggia, but some estimates speak of approximately 2 million euros. Also including income from sporting results, with a total prize money of approximately 150mila euro only this season.

Arianna Fontana (short track, Italia):

She is the Italian athlete more medaled in the history of the Olympic Games with 14 metals. In Milano-Cortina 2026 alone he won 3: one oro in the 2000m mixed relay due silverone in the 500 m and the other in the women’s 3000 m relay. In total, therefore, from the 3 medals obtained in the Italian Olympic event, Fontana won cash prizes for a total of 360mila euro. To which must be added, of course, the numerous contracts sponsorship signed during his ten-year career at the top of the world short track, with brands such as Samsung, Abarth and Herbalife.

Amos Mosaner from Stefania Constantini (curling, Italy)

Special mention for the sporty couple who were probably there most loved by web users. A media success almost certainly due to the peculiarities of a sport like the curlingwhich many on social media have attempted to replicate with “makeshift” equipment such as scope e potsto emulate the blue idols. Already Olympic champions at Beijing 2022the two athletes were the protagonists of another fantastic ride on the ice in Cortina, which ended with a medal of bronze. What happened to the Italian duo Mosaner-Constantini is perhaps the best example glaring how much the Olympic Games – whether winter or summer – can influence popularity of a sport and its athletes. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the social profiles of both are metaphorically exploded during these Games. On Instagram, the social monitoring platform reports Not Just AnalyticsMosaner went from 14 thousand followers on February 4th to over 47 thousand of current ones. Much more important is the boom in followers Constantine. Before the start of the Games, in fact, the 26-year-old athlete counted just under 60 thousand followers. Today, however, it has more 270mila.