For the vast majority of athletes who compete in the Olympic Games, winning a gold medal is the crowning achievement of their career and therefore their lifelong dream. But sporting recognition is usually linked to financial gain. And it’s not the same for everyone.
Forbes magazine contacted the national Olympic committees or the organization that oversees each of the 206 delegations present in Paris and concluded that at least 33 of them will award cash prizes to their medal-winning athletes. And over 15 years, an Olympic champion takes home more than $100,000 (see infographic opposite, values in euros).
Hong Kong clearly leads the ranking of those who best award a gold medal. This is just over 706 thousand euros. This amount has already been accumulated, for example, by Vivian Kong, who won the individual fencing event among women.
Portugal is far from the values practiced by other countries, but it did not fail to reward its athletes. For a gold medal you can earn 50 thousand euros, for a silver medal – a little less, 30 thousand euros. Bronze costs 20 thousand euros.
In the case of athletics, these figures can increase. That’s because World Athletics, the body that governs the sport worldwide, pays $50,000 (€46,000 at Monday’s rate) to the Olympic champion. Silver and bronze medals do not have prizes. So if Pedro Pichardo extends his triple jump title, he will automatically earn €96,000.
Over time, stories began to emerge of athletes pawning their medals for cash. This year, given the materials they were made from, a gold medal costs €875, a silver medal €447.50, and a bronze medal just €12.
Author: Joao Moniz
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.