The recently concluded European Championships just showed the disparity between USATF and the world’s other major track and field governing bodies more vividly than ever before. With the Paris Olympics breathing down upon our necks, it’s not just gold and glory that’s keeping the athletes motivated. The prospect of financial profits is also a significant one, and pole vaulting phenom Mondo Duplantis just got a major boost, while the USA athletes continue to limp without the country’s apex body behind them.

The USATF’s promise to pay medalists in Paris has evoked serious debate in the country’s track and field fraternity. The meager amount isn’t something that fans and athletes can get over with, and former and current American stars have slammed the low amount. However, amidst the chaos in the USA, Duplantis and other European Championships medalists have some good things to talk about.

In a recent post on X by Rori Dunk, Duplantis’ highlights from Roma have been shared, and it’s not about his Swede’s 6.10m championship record-setting performance. “Mondo Duplantis won €50,000 with just one jump yesterday!” noted the post, with an emoji that perfectly encapsulates the feelings of an American track and field fan right now. The information should be a massive reality check for those who still believe that the USA represents the best of things in every way.

The prize money paid to the lead scorers at the Italian capital converts into some $53,000. It is almost five times higher than the amount to be paid by the USATF to the top finishers at the upcoming US Olympic trials ($11,000). If this great divide isn’t a point of concern among fans, then the current situation may yet continue to prevail.

Winners at the European Championships were given their prize money from a pool of €500,000. The impressive move by the organizers is most likely to induce frustration among American athletes once again, especially with how complaints have been incessant these past months.

American stars not as lucky as Mondo Duplantis?

While Mondo and Norway’s distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen walked away from the Roman capital with a fat paycheck, the USA’s track stars have been clamoring for weeks about the little support they get from the nation’s authorities. After the USATF announced prize money of $37,500 for gold winners in Paris, the community slammed the stunningly low amount that the apex body considered was worth the efforts put in by stars to bring honor to the country on the grandest stage in all sports. On top of this, when the World Athletics announced its own decision to award $50,000 to top finishers at the 2024 Olympics, they too were ridiculed for their outlook about athletes and their passion.

Many fans reminded others that the WA was perfectly capable of arranging a larger prize pool for the World Championships, and understandably, placing Olympic achievement below the former didn’t sit well with the loyal fans of track and field. Moreover, only days ago, Kenny Bednarek also took to social media about how it has become difficult to bring the athletes’ families with them to tournaments with how expensive everything has become, and even Noah Lyles had to agree.

While international athletes like Duplantis reap heaps of benefits from one tournament, it looks like the Americans still have a long way to go before catching up.