Eladio Carrión Pledges $50,000 to Puerto Rican Athletes Winning Gold at Paris 2024. ELADIOCARRION / INSTAGRAM

The Puerto Rican urban artist Eladio Carrión has offered a substantial prize of $50,000 for his compatriots who win a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, matching a similar reward offered by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR).


Eladio Carrión, although born in Kansas, was raised on the US-associated island of Puerto Rico. He has committed to matching the $50,000 (approximately €46,000) that COPUR will award to its athletes who win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris, which begin next week.

The artist, who was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2020 for his work on "Kemba Walker," assured on his Instagram account, "If @comiteolimpicopur puts up the money, I'll match it."

In addition to being an artist, Carrión is a former swimmer who represented Puerto Rico in international competitions and has a significant commitment to the country where he was raised. Besides promising money to gold medal winners, he also offered rewards for those reaching the podium.

Should any of the 51 compatriots participating in Paris make it to the podium, there will be a monetary prize. Carrión will give $30,000 (€27,500) to silver medalists and $20,000 (€18,300) for each bronze medal.


These prize sums offered by COPUR to victorious athletes are not new, as they were also offered for Tokyo 2020 Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the sprinter and flag bearer for Paris 2024, was the only one to win these rewards with her gold in the 100 meters hurdles.

A few days ago, Carrión urged his fellow artists to come together to raise as much money as possible to support the athletes from his island competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

"It would be great if a couple of artists got together to create a good pot to help the athletes who are going to represent us in Paris," Carrión posted in another story on his Instagram account.

The Caribbean island will have 14 more athletes in Paris than in Tokyo 2020, bringing the total to 51, a significant number considering the population barely exceeds three million people.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn celebrates winning the gold medal in the Women's 100m Hurdles Final on day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic on August 2021. GETTY IMAGES
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn celebrates winning the gold medal in the Women's 100m Hurdles Final on day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic on August 2021. GETTY IMAGES


Regarding their medal tally, Puerto Rico has a total of 10, including two golds since it began participating in the Olympics in 1948. Besides Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in Tokyo 2020, tennis player Mónica Puig won Puerto Rico’s first-ever gold medal in history by defeating several top ten players in Rio 2016,including world number two Angelique Kerber in the final.