SINGAPORE - Joseph Schooling will stand to become a millionaire, thanks to his gold medal win at the Rio Olympic Games.

The reward for an individual Olympic gold is $1 million, under the Singapore National Olympic Council's Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP).

And he can keep that prize money, according to CBS Sports in a report that was released earlier on Saturday (Aug 13) shortly after Schooling's victory in the 100m butterfly event and securing Singapore's first Olympic gold.

The report said that National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules state that student-athletes are not allowed to accept prize money.

But that rule does not apply to foreign athletes like Schooling. So the 21-year-old, who is a student-athlete competing for the University of Texas at Austin, gets to keep the cash.

Under the MAP, athletes are expected to give 20 per cent of their earnings to their National Sports Association.