( CNN ) Entertainers are paid for entertaining and it 's time athletes received financial recompense for taking part in the Olympics , says 100m hurdler Sally Pearson . In 2014 , while the winner of Wimbledon received $ 2,600,000 and the Augusta Masters champion picked up $ 1,620,000 , when Pearson won gold in the Olympics three years ago she received zero prize money . `` People come for the entertainment from the athletes -- we are entertaining them , we are entertainers '' the Australian , who set an Olympic record of 12.48 seconds in her 2012 winning run in 2012 , told CNN anchor Alex Thomas . `` Entertainers get paid every single time they step up onto a stage , and that 's exactly what we 're doing in a sporting sense . '' Billions might have tuned in to watch London 's 2012 Olympic Games which saw over 10,000 athletes compete across 302 events in a battle for golden glory , but the International Olympic Committee 's current policy is to ( IOC ) hand out gold , silver and bronze medals as well as a bouquet of flowers to athletes , but no financial remuneration . `` I can see why they do n't , and I 'm sure they want to keep it like that , they want to keep it pure , '' added Pearson . `` To be honest we 're all still going to turn up whether we get paid or not . But the Games would n't happen without the athletes . '' It also would n't happen without sponsors . The IOC has just signed a new eight-year sponsorship deal with car manufacturing giant Toyota -- reportedly worth just under $ 1 billion -- adding to their list of partners that include McDonald 's and Coca-Cola . Athletes usually fund themselves through sponsorship deals , government support , grants and part-time work . In 2012 only half of American track and field athletes -- who were ranked in the top 10 in their nation -- earned more than $ 15,000 a year from their sport . The fifth fastest 100m hurdler in history , Pearson told the Australia 's Daily Telegraph in 2013 how a year after her Olympic gold medal in London she still was n't attracting enough sponsors . No stranger to hard work -- the hurdler sometimes vomits after intense training sessions -- she decided to chase down her own deals rather than sit on her hands waiting for private sponsorship . While she has some support from Qantas , AMP and Adidas , appearance fees and prize money in the Diamond League -- an annual series of track and field meetings -- also provides revenue earning potential for the 28-year-old . Now targeting more medal success at the 2016 Rio Olympics , Pearson achieved a resounding win at the Queensland Track Classic on March 7 with a time of 12.74s . Even so the issue of Olympic prize money still clearly grates . `` I think the times have changed from 1896 to 2016 , I think it might be time to at least have a think about it , and discuss it because there 's no such thing as the Olympics without athletics or athletes , '' said Pearson .
Olympic 100m gold medal winner Alex Thomas says IOC should think about paying athletes . Pearson won gold at the London 2012 Olympics .