A curious fact has emerged from Paris 2024, or rather the results of the athletes' performances at the 33rd modern Olympic Games and the nationalities of the winning athletes.

Two athletes from Hong Kong are the biggest winners of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, each taking home €700,000 despite winning only one gold medal - far more than Léon Marchand, for example, who took home €335,000 for five medals (four golds).

Taking only the gold medals into account, the Frenchman's earnings surpassed those of the two Hong Kong athletes. Had Marchand been born in Hong Kong, he would have earned €2.8 million, compared to the €335,000 he actually received (just over 11% in comparison).

The comparison is even worse for China's Yufei Zhang, who won the most medals at the Games with six, but earned only €205,000.

Marchand, who won the most gold medals, was the only athlete from outside Asia to appear in the top ten highest earners.

MONEYME analysed the prize money, taking into account the latest financial incentives for medal wins by country, and its CEO, Clayton Howes, highlighted the significant disparity in financial rewards between different nations at Paris 2024.

"As with many previous Games, the Paris Olympic Games highlighted significant variations in prize money across different sports and events, reflecting the different recognition and reward structures faced by athletes around the world," said Howes.

"While some countries, particularly those in Asia and parts of Europe, offer substantial financial incentives, others, such as the UK, some Nordic countries and Australia and New Zealand, offer more modest rewards," the CEO said.

Highest earning medalists at Paris 2024

1= CHEUNG, Ka Long

Hong Kong's 27-year-old Ka Long Cheung is the top earning medallist at Tokyo 2021, taking home €700,000 after defending his gold medal in the men's individual foil fencing.

1= KONG, Man Wai Vivian

Vivian Kong, also from Hong Kong, matched Cheung's earnings of €700,000 after winning gold in the women's individual épée.

2= LIN, Yu-Ting

Yu-Ting Lin of Chinese Taipei earned €655,000 for winning gold in the women's flyweight boxing event, tying with men's doubles badminton winners Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang.

2= LEE, Yang & WANG, Chi-Lin

The Chinese Taipei badminton duo of Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang earned €655,000 each after successfully defending their Olympic title.

In Chinese Taipei, each athlete who wins a gold medal in a doubles event at the Paris Games usually receives the full prize money individually, rather than sharing a single sum.

3= YULO, Carlos Edriel

Carlos Edriel Yulo made history for the Philippines at the Paris 2024 Olympics by winning two gold medalsin men's artistic gymnastics, one in the floor exercise and the other in the vault, earning €365,000 in prize money.

4= HAUGHEY Siobhan Bernadette

Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey won two bronze medals for Hong Kong. She won the women's 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle, earning €350,000 in prize money.

5= PAN, Zhanle

Chinese swimmer Zhanle Pan broke the world record in the men's 100m freestyle to win the gold medal. In addition to his individual success, Pan played a crucial role in China's men's 4x100m medley relay team's victory and China's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team's silver medal. In China, cash prizes for events such as doubles or relays are usually awarded to individual team members. Pan earned €340,000 in prize money for his two gold and one silver medals.

5= SUN, Yingsha

Yingsha Sun competed in the women's singles, women's team and mixed doubles table tennis events, winning two gold medals in the team events and a silver medal in the singles. The world's number one table tennis player took home an impressive prize money of €340,000.

6= MARCHAND, Léon

Léon Marchand, the star of the third Olympic Games in France, put in a spectacular performance to become the only medallist from the most successful continent (Europe) in the top ten who wasn't from Asia. His four individual gold medals, each an Olympic record, and bronze in the men's 4x100m medley relay earned him a total of €335,000 in prize money.