Track and field just isn't the sport to be in if making money is your goal, even when you're king or queen of the hill. Hocker will, of course, cash in (and that's fabulous) on his Olympic gold medal, he likely already had a good contract, and some of the big names in t&f who failed to do well in the Olympics already had rich contracts, but compare t&f with the Professional Golf Association. So far (as the money list will still change this year) in 2024 Chad Ramey ($1,007,630) and then 109 men ahead of him on the 2024 PGA money list have already earned over $1,000,000 from their finishing positions in tournaments. That's just a little bit more money than a typical athlete in t&f gets from a sponsor.
