What prizes do Olympic winners receive – besides medals

AAs thousands of Olympians vie for a spot on the podium in Paris, some who finish on top will go home with more than just gold.

While the Olympics reward its champions with immense glory and a place in the sport’s history, traditionally absent are the flashy giant checks that other competitions hand out.

But that doesn’t mean Olympic medalists won’t make money.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not reward monetarily winners, does not prevent governments or national organizations, or sports federations, from encouraging athletes with money or other prizes. And this year, some federations made the groundbreaking decision to do just that at the Paris Games.

World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, announced In April, Olympic gold medalists in track and field events will receive a $50,000 reward – the first of its kind for a sports federation. And in May, the International Boxing Association – which was stripped recognition by the IOC last year due to financial and governance concerns—he said would offer $100,000 to boxing gold medalists, “setting a clear example to many about how international federations should treat their champions.”

The ads proved controversial. Other federations claimed Such a measure “undermines the values ​​of Olympism” and is unfair to sports that cannot afford to offer cash prizes. The IOC has argued that federations should focus on reducing inequality in their sport, rather than elevating its winners. Meanwhile, sporting entities and athletes defended the merits of rewarding top performers – which generate publicity and revenue for the Olympic Games and their respective sports – and called for more money to be passed on to the winners in all Olympic events.

“While it is impossible to place a commercial value on winning an Olympic medal or the commitment and focus required to represent your country at the Olympic Games,” he said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in April: “I think it’s important that we start somewhere and ensure that some of the revenue generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games is directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that they are.”

In addition to the selected federations that will pay their champions, some countries also award bonuses to those who bring home medals – although the prizes on offer can differ greatly. Here are some rewards Olympic winners can reap:

Money

In what may well be the largest payout for an Olympic medal, Saudi authorities awarded karate athlete Tareg Hamedi 5 million riyals (about $1.33 million) after he almost lost the gold– settling for silver after being disqualified for an illegal kick – at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Other rich Gulf states such as Bahrain It is Qatar, who have a history of poaching foreign athletes with lucrative businesses, are also known for offering hefty rewards in exchange for sports medals. In 2005, Qatar became famous offered South African swimmer Roland Schoeman signed a multimillion-dollar contract including a bonus of one million rand (more than $50,000) for each Olympic medal or world title won – although Schoeman rejected the offer.

Hong Kong’s gold medalists at the Paris Olympics, if any, will receive one of the largest cash rewards on offer: HK$6 million (over US$750,000), as part of the city’s Athlete Incentive Awards Program, sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city’s official betting organizer.

Likewise, Singapore, through its Top Games Awards Program which is largely sponsored by the national lottery board, offers S$1 million (over US$700,000) to individual winners, S$1.5 million to winners of team events (such as athletics relays or tennis doubles) and S$ 2 million for winners of team sports (such as basketball or football). It also allocates 50% of the aforementioned amounts to silver medalists and 25% to bronze medalists. So far, however, only one Singaporean has managed to take the top prize: swimmer Joseph Schooling, who became the city-state’s first and only gold medalist after winning the 100-meter butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Olympic gold medalists, under a government medal programthey receive NT$20 million (more than US$600,000) and a lifetime monthly stipend of NT$125,000 (about US$4,000).

Other governments that have offered (or committed to offering) their Olympic champions six-figure cash rewards include: Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Italy, the Philippines, Hungary, Kosovo, EstoniaIt is Egypt.

In some cases, athletes receive rewards from both governments and national sports organizations. The Indian government offers Olympic gold medalists 7.5 million rupees (about US$90,000), while the Indian Olympic Association rewards separately them with 10 million rupees (about US$ 120 thousand).

Under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Operation Gold program, Olympic gold medalists to receive US$37,500, while silver and bronze medalists receive US$22,500 and US$15,000 respectively. National sports organizations also have their own programs to reward athletes, with USA Wrestling’s Living the Dream Medal Fund offering $250,000 for Olympic gold medals and USA Swimming giveaway $75,000 for the same.

Cars, houses and even cows

In some countries, in addition to money, generous rewards are often given to winning athletes, from luxurious cars to apartments.

Malaysian authorities promised their athletes cars manufactured abroad if they bring home medals from Paris, while in Kazakhstan Olympic winners are legally qualified for apartments – the size of which varies according to the color of the medal.

After Chinese sports shooter Yi Siling won gold in the air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics, authorities in Guangdong province, where she resided, reportedly it gave she received a cash reward of 7.65 million yuan (more than $1 million), along with a car worth $30,000 and personalized alcoholic drinks. Other Chinese athletes, according to local media, received expensive new houses of real estate companies.

When Indonesian badminton gold medalists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu returned home after the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to the cash reward from the Indonesian government, local officials and businesspeople also took a shower the duo with gifts that include cows, a house and even their own meatball restaurant.

Austria’s Olympic gold medalists, in turn, previously received €17,000 (over $18,000) in Philharmonic coins, a popular gold coin named after the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Russia, Olympic champions are typically given away 4 million rubles ($45,300), along with expensive foreign cars, apartments, honorary titles and lifetime stipends. Victory at the Olympic Games also often translates into more intangible forms of success, with many high-profile athletes – such as wrestler Aleksandr Karelin, figure skater Irina Rodnina and gymnast Svetlana Khorkina – embarking on political careers after retiring from football. sport.

“In our country, success at the Olympics is a direct path to the State Duma and power,” says a 2016 report. article in the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

In some cases, just qualifying for the Olympics is reason enough for compensation: Iraqi football team and weightlifter Ali Ammar Yasser received plots of land, monthly stipends and a reward of 10 million Iraqi dinars (more than $7,000) each after securing their places in Paris.

Nothing – but pride

The United Kingdom, along with countries such as Norway and Sweden, does not offer any cash rewards to its Olympic medalists.

While some athletes have made it clear that they think they should be paid, others feel it is unnecessary.

“All those athletics gold medalists are capable of making significant money before and certainly after Paris,” said British Olympic champion rower Sir Steve Redgrave. BBC after the news of World Athletics offering money to winners, “so you’re giving money to people who already have it.”

Meanwhile, Norwegian Olympic champion Karsten Warholm, who applauded World Athletics for its decision, emphasized that the value of winning at the Olympic Games is often deeper than any monetary prize: “It doesn’t change my motivation to win because for the Olympic Games I’m not in it for the money,” he said Reuters. “The gold medal is worth so much more to me personally.”