Bobby Finke of the US was awarded a $50,000 USD bonus from Shannon Sharpe on Nightcap on Friday. Finke broke the World Record in the men’s 1500 freestyle on the final day of swimming in Paris, swimming to a 14:30.67.
Sharpe hosted Finke on his podcast and surprised Finke at the end of it with a check. He showed Finke the check through the camera to show Finke how proud he and co-host Chad Johnson were of him. Finke eventually saw the writing on the check and responded with a shocked “oh god…oh my god.”
Johnson proposed a race for Finke to receive the $50,000, “In order to get that when you’re in Florida, we’ll have to race.” Finke replied to the challenge, “I’ll do whatever you guys want…I’ll do anything.”
Finke was the only US man to win an individual gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, doing so in World Record time as well. His win also helped move the US to be tied with Australia at seven gold medals a piece. The US women’s 4×100 medley relay ended up winning the final gold of the meet to put the US alone at the top of the medal table with eight golds.
In addition to this bonus, Finke was the highest-earning man from the US, earning a total of $145,000.00. He was the 5th highest earner overall. He notably was the only swimmer from the US to set an individual World Record at the meet.
