As hundreds of Olympic athletes vie for a spot on the rostrum in Paris, some who end on prime will probably be going dwelling with extra than simply gold.
Whereas the Olympics rewards its champions with immense glory and a spot in sporting historical past, historically absent are the flashy large checks that different competitions hand out.
However that doesn’t imply Olympic medalists gained’t make any cash.
Whereas the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t monetarily award winners, it doesn’t cease nationwide governments or organizations, or sports activities federations, from incentivizing athletes with money or different prizes. And this yr, some federations have made the groundbreaking resolution to do exactly that on the Paris Video games.
World Athletics, the worldwide governing physique for observe and area, introduced in April that Olympic gold medalists in observe and area occasions will obtain a reward of $50,000—the primary of its sort for a sports activities federation. And in Could, the Worldwide Boxing Affiliation—which was stripped of recognition by the IOC final yr as a consequence of monetary and governance considerations—mentioned it might supply $100,000 to boxing gold medalists, “setting a transparent instance for a lot of on how worldwide federations must be treating their champions.”
The bulletins have proved controversial. Different federations have claimed such a transfer “undermines the values of Olympism” and is unfair to sports activities that may’t afford to supply prize cash. The IOC has argued that the federations must be specializing in lowering inequality inside their sport as a substitute of elevating their winners. In the meantime, sporting our bodies and athletes have defended the deserves of rewarding one of the best performers—who drive publicity and income for the Olympics and for his or her respective sports activities—and have referred to as for extra money to be handed to the winners throughout all of the Olympic occasions.
“Whereas it’s not possible to place a marketable worth on profitable an Olympic medal, or on the dedication and focus it takes to even symbolize your nation at an Olympic Video games,” mentioned World Athletics president Sebastian Coe in April, “I feel it is vital we begin someplace and ensure a number of the revenues generated by our athletes on the Olympic Video games are immediately returned to those that make the Video games the worldwide spectacle that it’s.”
Other than the choose federations that may pay their champions, some international locations additionally bestow bonuses on those that convey dwelling medals—although the prizes on supply can differ vastly. Listed here are some rewards Olympic winners can reap:
Money
In what could be the one largest payout for an Olympic medal, Saudi authorities awarded karate athlete Tareg Hamedi 5 million riyal (about $1.33 million) after he narrowly missed the gold—settling for silver after being disqualified over an unlawful kick—on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Different rich gulf states like Bahrain and Qatar, which have a historical past of poaching overseas athletes with profitable offers, are additionally recognized for providing hefty rewards in alternate for sporting medals. In 2005, Qatar famously supplied prime South African swimmer Roland Schoeman a multimillion-dollar contract, together with a a million rand (over $50,000) bonus for each Olympic medal or world title gained—although Schoeman in the end rejected the supply.
Hong Kong’s gold medalists on the Paris Olympics, if there are any, will get among the many largest money reward on supply: HK$6 million (over $750,000), as a part of the town’s Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Membership, the town’s official betting organizer.
Equally, Singapore, by means of its Main Video games Award Programme that’s largely sponsored by the nationwide lottery board, gives S$1 million (over $700,000) for particular person winners, S$1.5 million for winners of workforce occasions (like athletics relays or tennis doubles), and S$2 million for winners of workforce sports activities (like basketball or soccer). It additionally provides 50% of the aforementioned quantities to silver medalists and 25% to bronze medalists. Up to now, nevertheless, just one Singaporean has ever managed to assert the highest prize: swimmer Joseph Education, who turned the city-state’s first and solely gold medalist after profitable the 100 meter butterfly on the Rio 2016 Olympics.
In the meantime, Taiwan’s Olympic gold medalists, below a authorities medal program, obtain NT$20 million (over $600,000) and a lifetime month-to-month stipend of NT$125,000 (about $4,000).
Different governments which have supplied (or pledged to supply) their Olympic champions six-figure money rewards embody: Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Italy, the Philippines, Hungary, Kosovo, Estonia, and Egypt.
In some instances, athletes get rewards from each their governments and nationwide sports activities organizations. The Indian authorities gives Olympic gold medalists 7.5 million rupees (about $90,000), whereas the Indian Olympic Affiliation individually rewards them with 10 million rupees (about $120,000).
Below the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee committee’s Operation Gold program, Olympic gold medalists obtain $37,500, whereas silver and bronze medalists obtain $22,500 and $15,000, respectively. Nationwide sports activities organizations even have their very own packages to reward athletes, with USA Wrestling’s Residing The Dream Medal Fund providing $250,000 for Olympic gold medals and USA Swimming providing $75,000 for a similar.
Automobiles, homes, even cows
In some international locations, typically along with money, lavish rewards are bequeathed upon profitable athletes, from luxurious automobiles to residences.
Malaysian authorities have promised their athletes foreign-made automobiles if they carry dwelling medals from Paris, whereas in Kazakhstan, Olympic winners are legally entitled to residences—the dimensions of which can differ in line with their medal coloration.
After Chinese language sport shooter Yi Siling gained gold within the air rifle occasion on the London 2012 Olympics, authorities of Guangdong province, the place she resided, reportedly gave her a money reward of seven.65 million yuan (over $1 million), together with a automotive value $30,000 and customized made alcohol. Different Chinese language athletes, in line with native media, have obtained costly new houses from actual property corporations.
When Indonesian badminton gold medallists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu returned dwelling after the Tokyo Olympics, apart from the money reward from the Indonesian authorities, native authorities and entrepreneurs additionally showered the pair with presents together with cows, a home, and even their very own meatball restaurant.
Austria’s Olympic gold medalists, in the meantime, have beforehand obtained €17,000 (over $18,000) value of Philharmonic cash, a well-liked bullion coin named after the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.
In Russia, Olympic champions are sometimes given 4 million rubles ($45,300), together with costly overseas automobiles, residences, honorary titles, and lifelong stipends. Victory on the Olympics additionally typically interprets to extra immaterial types of success, with many high-profile athletes—resembling wrestler Aleksandr Karelin, determine skater Irina Rodnina, and gymnast Svetlana Khorkina—embarking on careers in politics after retiring from sports activities.
“In our nation, success on the Olympics is a direct path to the State Duma and energy,” reads a 2016 article in Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
In some instances, simply qualifying for the Olympics is sufficient trigger for compensation: the Iraqi soccer workforce and weightlifter Ali Ammar Yasser obtained plots of land, month-to-month stipends, and a reward of 10 million Iraqi dinars (over $7,000) every after securing their spots in Paris.
Nothing—apart from pleasure
The U.Okay., together with international locations like Norway and Sweden, doesn’t supply any money reward to its Olympic medalists.
Whereas some athletes have made clear that they assume they need to be paid, others assume it’s pointless.
“All these gold medalists in athletics are able to incomes vital cash earlier than and definitely after Paris,” British Olympic champion rower Sir Steve Redgrave instructed BBC after the information of World Athletics providing money to winners, “so that you’re giving cash to individuals who have already got it.”
In the meantime, Norwegian Olympic champion hurdler Karsten Warholm, who applauded World Athletics for its transfer, emphasised that the worth of victory within the Olympics is commonly extra profound than any pecuniary prize: “It doesn’t change my motivation to win as a result of for the Olympics I’m not in it for the cash,” he instructed Reuters. “The gold medal is value much more to me personally.”
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