Cheung Ka-long of Hong Kong fencing against Daniele Garozzo of Italy in the men's foil final on July 26. Most teams have corporate or private sponsors who pay for the Olympians' costs. Most of that prize money is not. Struggling to get a decent living, Zhang remained homeless and. $10,000 - Olympic bronze medal. So if I can do that while I'm at one point working two jobs and DoorDash and everything like that, then I can't imagine what I can do if I didn't have to do that. A gold medal is worth $37,500, a silver medal is worth $22,500 and a bronze medal is worth $15,000. Usain Bolt Celebrating at the Beijing Olympics. Narrator: But most athletes have to take on part-time work. But the select few who are able to scale the podium339 sets of medals are set to be awarded at the Tokyo Games, across 33 sportsmay find that their countries are willing to make it all worth their while. To date, though, athletes have always received the maximum, the government says. Another source of income is through endorsement deals. A first-place finish in an Olympic individual event is worth roughly $380,000, and athletes can earn another half that amount for setting an Olympic record. In dollar terms, a Malaysian Olympic bronze winner will receive a higher performance reward than a gold winner from Australia or Canada. (Lin-Manuel Mirandas Hamilton neglected to mention you could go pro in that.) Only includes payout from U.S. Olympic Committee, some organizations such as USA Swimming and USA Wrestling award additional bonuses. The prize for a gold medal is $25,000, $15,000 for a silver medal, and $10,000 for a bronze. You can now save articles. And like other countries including Germany and Liechtenstein, Latvia pays for finishes a few spots past the podium; its payments extend through sixth place. Payments to U.S. athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games are currently set at. Others draw regular salary by holding a variety of jobs. Ahead of the Games, Forbes reached out to the national Olympic committees or government sports ministries of all 91 countries and territories set to compete and was able to confirm that at least 32 will pay cash prizes for medals; only four of the respondents do not plan to pay their athletes some sort of bonus explicitly for winning medals. The Philippines clinched its first ever gold medal in Tokyo this week, making Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz the country's first Olympic gold medalist. Somewhere in the middle, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays members of Team USA $37,500 (26,975) for each gold medal, $22,500 (16,185) for every silver, and $15,000 (10,790) for a . The dominant Team USA, meanwhile, will pay $37,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 per silver and $15,000 per bronze. However, if an athlete earns a medal, there is a medal bonus attached to it. Britain and Iceland are among those that dont, although they provide other sorts of grants to athletes. Her Olympic success (two golds and one bronze so far) will likely land the gymnast even bigger contracts after the games. The prize money is taxable and awardees are required to return a portion of it to their national sports associations for future training and development. Most Team USA athletes are not represented by sports agents and some have no sponsors or endorsements at all, according to a Forbes report. The state government of Manipur has pledged to give Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu 10 million Indian rupees ($134,000) for her silver-medal performance. A professional athlete's median salary is about $35,004 per year, with a range that goes up to more than $5 million dollars. While the International Olympic Committee does not pay prize money to medalists, many countries offer monetary rewards to their athletes for the number of medals they win at the Olympics. Some changes have been made to get more money in the hands of the athletes. Kosovo is a newcomer to the Olympic scene, competing at just its second Winter Games with a contingent of two skiers, Kiana Kryeziu and Albin Tahiri. You can now save articles. Rp 5 billion, Rp 2 billion, and Rp 1 billion, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. 11 Best Parenting Books for New Moms and Dads, 12 Best LED Face Masks to Zap Acne and Wrinkles. However, some individual prizes remain: The Chinese government partnered with Tim Yip (aka Ye Jintian), a renowned visual artist and Oscar-winning designer, to create Champion Dragon Clothes for athletes to wear on the podium. I never earned less than $250,000. Narrator: Nailing a coveted sponsorship is hard. But, if they do well at the games the athletes can make some serious money. Medal winners have historically been gifted expensive luxury cars valued at $50,000 to $200,000 USD. However, if an athlete earns a medal, there is a medal. For example, snowboarder Chloe Kim signed with Nike, meaning she can appear on their advertisements. Aaron: There was meets that I thought I would be able to get in and clean up and make money I didn't have. The average salary for volleyball players is $45,722. "Its not just, like, 'Hey, sponsor me because Im on TV,'" alpine skier Stacey Cook told CNBC. Create an account and youll be able to save and revisit articles. Athletes can get stipends directly from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee or from the groups that run the Olympic sports teams, called the national governing bodies. Bobsled is a much smaller Olympic sport, and so there's three medals that we can earn. As a reward for her historic achievement, Diaz will reportedly receive at least 33 million Philippine pesos (around $600,000) from the Philippine Sports Commission as well as the country's top businessmen. If youre competing for Team China, the government is moving away from cash prizes. In places like Singapore, India and elsewhere, many of the national sporting initiatives are driven by governments that sometimes use higher monetary rewards to encourage a growing sporting culture, he told CNBC. Hong Kong hasnt captured a medal in its five previous Winter Olympic appearances, but it did give out the same big prize at the Summer Games last year. So, the short answer is no, that Olympians don't normally pay for any expenses while competing at the Olympics. The monthly cost ranges from $3,810 to $8,208, while the yearly cost ranges from $53,500 to $60,999. TYR Sport sponsors Katie Ledecky for $7 million. Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. Olympic champions also receive an allowance of about $1,400 a monthfor life. Malaysia also has hefty rewards for its Olympic winners. But is it worth being broke again? The Russian Olympic Committees theme song when winning gold is Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. But each of the young athletes also will receive more than $205,000 for their success. 1, which, depending on your musical tastes, could be a nice prize itselfor if your preferences are more like mine, maybe a punishment. Here are 12 countries and territories offering six-figure payouts for gold medalists in individual sports; the prizes are listed in U.S. dollars, converted from the local currency at the exchange rate as of January 28. While the country has never claimed a medal on snow, the Cyprus Sports Organization will pay for a finish anywhere in the top 16: roughly $168,000 for a gold medal, $140,000 for silver and $123,000 for bronze, all the way down to $11,000 for 16th place. Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, for example, dont provide any extra pay for medals, and neither do smaller delegations like Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tonga or the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Philippines promised roughly $200,000 in prize money to any gold medal winner on top of additional allowances that the government approved ahead of these Games. Beyond receiving monetary and non-monetary rewards from their countries for winning medals, Olympians rely on other revenue streams for their sporting endeavors. During this year's Winter . That bobsled Lauryn competed in costs about $30,000. Michael Phelps is the most successful competitive swimmer and Olympian ever, with twenty-eight Olympic medals. However, if an athlete earns a medal, there is a medal bonus attached to it. Narrator: An Olympic gold-medal rower told USA Today she receives $2,000 a month. Here's an insight into where their income comes from. Narrator: How much funding an athlete gets depends on performance, and Lauryn: Their ability is to be able to earn medals. (The price tag for a silver is $111,000.) I want to go back. $15,000 - Olympic silver medal. For the Tokyo Olympics, Italian gold medalists receive 180,000 for their victory, with smaller prizes for silver and bronze. It's free! Narrator: Athletes can also make money through sponsorships. [24][25][26], Prior to the RA 10699, standard government incentives are codified under the RA 9064 or the National Athletes, Coaches and Trainers Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001 which mandates a prize money of 5 million for Olympic gold medalists, 2.5 million for silver medalists and 1 million for bronze medalists. Additionally, they stay in the Olympic village for around a month. There are a few different types of sponsorships Olympic athletes can sign with. For most athletesaside from a few highly paid Olympians like Kevin Durant and Naomi Osakacompeting at this elite level is a financial struggle. Additional lifetime monthly salary of 5,000, 3,000, and 2,000 ringgit for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. How London laid the groundwork for sustainable sporting architecture, Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz the country's first Olympic gold medalist, Diaz will reportedly receive at least 33 million Philippine pesos, U.S. athletes also receive other forms of support, reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, NFL replaces Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game, The mindset that helped a marathoner become one of the country's best in just 4 years: 'Working harder isn't necessarily better', Fanatics wants to be a $100 billion company here's how it plans to get there. With of all this time designated to the Olympics, how do Olympic athletes make money? Monica won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Plus, how the winnings stack up for individual and team event athletes. But her winnings didnt stop there. For Olympic athletes who may not be big names quite yet, they often receive funding from friends or family and local businesses. She was the first American woman to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. [22], The largest prize money under the MAP is for athletes who clinch an Olympic gold medal. Hidilyn Diaz of Team Philippines competes during the Weightlifting - Women's 55kg Group A on day three of the 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo International Forum on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Instead, the ROC winners will be treated to the golden tones of Pyotr Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in Olympic history, but the athletes also look forward to the cash prize that comes with it. He'd been making $10 an hour at a resort, but he gave notice because he couldn't get race . Some of that money is provided for annual athlete training and stipends. Maggie: You know, a lot of girls on our team are coaches. Athletes who win gold in the Beijing Olympics receive 50,000,000 Hungarian Forint, or roughly $161,000. Become a GH+ member to read and save unlimited articles. Most athletes who compete at the Olympics can only hope to break even as they hunt for modest stipends and scarce sponsorships that often dont cover the costs of years of training, equipment, medical and travel expenses. But Cheung, who had carried Hong Kongs flag during the opening ceremony, did his home territory proud, battling back from an early deficit against Garozzo to become Hong Kongs first Olympic champion in 25 years. In addition, a gold-medal performance boosts an athletes stipend from the committee. The shooter competed in the 25-meter rapid fire pistol this year for a seriously impressive sixth Olympics. This year, athletes will receive up to 142,288 (roughly $159,000) per gold in individual sports, and teams will receive up to 426,862 ($477,000) to divvy up. But there's a lot of expenses associated with being an athlete, because you are in fact a business, and a business has overhead. Like the Philippines, Hong Kong also won its first ever gold medal during the 2020 Olympics, in dramatic fashionand the territory decided to break the bank to celebrate. But while Turkey has competed at 17 Winter Games, it has yet to win a medal on snow or ice. Monica: That's my only question over the next three years of, do I continue another three years of being broke? Bangladesh, which has never won an Olympic medal, has pledged to pay about $300,000 for gold, about $150,000 for silver and about $100,000 for bronze, according to an official at the national Olympic committee. So it was definitely rough. Not a bad haul! Malaysian gold medalists receive roughly $1,200 in monthly payments for life, Estonian winners receive 4,600 a year, and Indonesian champions get an $18,000-a-year retirement plan. The more medals athletes win, the more money they make. A lot of them have part-time drop jobs and it's only in the Olympics where we really, really see them shine.. Narrator: There's the price of gym time, massage and sports medicine appointments, dieticians, lots of healthy food, you name it. The U.S. Olympic Committee pays $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for a silver, and $15,000 for a bronze. Do Russian Olympic athletes get paid for medals? Insuring the Olympics a $2.5 billion affair. Some countries, like the U.S., pay out equal amounts to individual-sport and team-sport athletes while other countries offer less to groups. Must be nice to never have to load up your transit card again, although he could afford to after collecting his gold medal ransom. Russia was runner-up with a $135,000 golden bonus, and France. Narrator: So how do Olympians make money, and why isn't it enough? Shes also receiving free lifetime flights on AirAsia Philippines, a house courtesy of President Rodrigo Duterteplus at least three more homes that companies and benefactors have promised her. Yahoo Finance reports that those delicious prizes remain on offer in Tokyo. U.S. athletes also receive other forms of support including health insurance, access to top-tier medical facilities and college tuition assistance. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz snagged the Philippines first-ever Olympic gold on Monday, ending a 97-year drought and securing the roughly $200,000 official prize on offer from the Philippine Sports Commission. Not every country offers financial compensation explicitly for medal winners. The 19-year-old phenom passed up on sponsorship deals in order to swim for Stanford this fall, but she'll still accept hundreds of thousands in prize money for her six medals. Medallists get the most out of this, with training worth between 37,000 and 57,000 being provided. With very little options, he used the only skill that he learned to make some money: performing gymnastic stunts on the streets. Actual swimming competitions bring in less than 2% of his income, but those medals still paid out a cool $1.89 million. The government of tiny Kosovo is paying 100,000 euros to gold medalists, 60,000 to silver medalists and 40,000 to bronze medalists, with two Olympic champions (judokas Nora Gjakova and Distria Krasniqi) in Tokyo already. Aaron: For me, when I get prize money, I have to immediately disburse that to bills and savings, and also I have to think about, I can't lose, or I can't come in a certain place because I have to make a certain amount of money to either break even or to gain a profit. It's now up to $30,000. Son only had to attend basic training, which was doable during the English Premier Leagues offseasonrather than fulfill the full-length of the typical 21-month military requirement, which would have put him in breach of his contract with his club, Tottenham Hotspur. The IOC has recently eased Rule 40, which prohibited athletes from making money off their image rights before, during, and after the Olympics. In fact, a recent survey conducted by the non-profit Australian Sports Foundation discovered just under half of the 521 athletes questioned were " teetering on the brink of retirement ", taking home less than $23,000 a year. Slovakia, for instance, is promising roughly $56,000 for a gold medal in an individual sport and an average of roughly $17,000 for each member of a gold-medal-winning teamalthough the exact amount can rise or fall a bit for any particular team-sport athlete, depending on how the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee judges their importance to their team. Kosovo's Nora Gjakova after defeating Japan's Tsukasa Yoshida in a judo semifinal bout on July 26. It really set me back financially. For example, a gold winner for Team USA would clinch $37,500 for their efforts while their counterpart in Singapore would receive $737,000 nearly 20 times more. In fact, some countries offer much higher rewards for earning gold at Olympic . Each member of a medal-winning team is eligible for the same amount as an individual athletegreat news for the Hungarian mens water polo team, a perennial gold-medal threat. Olympic athletes do not get paid by just attending the Olympic Games. Monica: I would ref competitions here in New York City, but all of them were canceled, so I wasn't making money from that. All Olympic athletes competing for the United States earn a "medal bonus" according to Money Under 30, where they make money for each medal earned for their country. Narrator: In every sport, the USOPC awards a $37,500 medal bonus for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. Another source of funding is prize money. Naomi Osaka of Team Japan serves during her Women's Singles Third Round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Team Czech Republic on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Tennis Park on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. A gold medal is worth $37,500, a. As the Beijing Winter Games get underway, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Hungary's national Olympic committee is one of many that awards bonuses for medals at the Games. Though U.S. athletes aren't paid just for competing, Team USA does issue financial rewards for medaling. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. The New York Times previously reported that Team USA . KYIV, Ukraine (AP . According to the USOPC website, U.S. Olympians will earn $37,500 for each gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, $22,500 for a . Its not the only country that offers additional pay for a record breaker. Finally, athletes can win prize money. A lot of hourly jobs went away for a good period of time during COVID. You may opt-out by. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. He's the fifth-highest-paid player in the NBA, but the New York Knicks athlete agreed to compete in Rio along with fellow multi-millionaires Kevin Durant, Kyrie Iving and Klay Thompson. (In the team events, medalists divide up larger pots of money.) But we do know in 2012, half of the US track and field Olympic team made $15,000 or less a year from the sport, including stipends, prize money, and sponsorships. Latvia will pay Olympians up to a certain amount based on the governments budget. US Olympians used to have to pay as much as $8,900 in taxes on a gold medal bonus. 2K Sports and Nike sponsor Kevin Durant, who rakes in $40 million in sponsorship money every year. The Olympians were presented with their brand new set of wheels at a ceremony on Thursday, which was also attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Interfax . If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. In Beijing, Meinhardt became the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer of all time. Competitors don't really receive a fixed salary. Olympic athletes train for years at a time, competing in various events ahead of the Winter Olympics. Massage therapists, nutritionists. Thats no small perk in Denmark, which has one of the worlds highest tax rates but awards roughly $15,000 tax free for individual gold medals. Some, like U.S. badminton player Zhang Beiwen, reportedly relied on crowdsourcing to finance their trip to Tokyo. The financial strain is huge. Athletes from bigger, more competitive countries receive stipends or training grants from their national sports associations. That said, those at the Phelps level have to send a good chunk of their payouts right back to Uncle Sam.) The payments extend through the top eight places in each event. And Russian winners? By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider What do athletes get paid if they win a medal at the Olympics? How much do Olympic athletes get paid? All males in South Korea are drafted into 18 months of mandatory military service following their training. Italy has also adopted a model of massive payoutsalthough a little less than Singapore. Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant finds himself the subject of controversy yet again after an early morning social media post appeared to show Morant holding a gun inside a club. This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 15:14. In some countries, athletes may make hundreds of thousands of extra dollars based on the medals they win. Athletes who win gold receive 1 million ringgit ($236,149), while silver winners are awarded 300,000 ringgit, and 100,000 ringgit is given to athletes who win bronze. UK Olympic medallists have . As only half of U.S. track athletes bring in more than $15,000 a year from their sport , Business Insider reports, there are other ways . In 2012, US News & World Report found it costs up to $100,000 a year for athletes to be Olympians. However, the Olympic Committee tends to pay for most of the expenses, such as food, accommodation and transportation. It didnt take long for an athlete to come to collect: Two Kazakhstani competitors won bronze last Saturday, in weightlifting and judo, and another weightlifter followed with a bronze on Monday. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Or steeplechase. China: $31,400. New rules approved last year from USA Track & Field, the sport's national governing body, set aside $10,000 for any . Here's an insight into where their income comes from. But the USA's medal bonuses are lower than what other nations offer. Russia has one of the smaller payments worldwide. Outside of the major sports, and those athletes that have high profiles, a lot of these athletes really struggle financially, Dr. Tim Baghurst, the head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Athletic Coaching at Florida State University, told WUSA9. I worked at Panera, a bank. Narrator: They also have a long list of expenses to train for their sport. NT$20,000,000, NT$7,000,000, NT$5,000,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. US Olympians used to have to pay as much as $8,900 in taxes on a gold medal bonus. Then there are countries like Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which plan to award bonuses to any athletes who earn medals but will wait until after the fact to determine the exact amounts. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. For example, speed skater Mitch Whitmore said he received a nine-month stipend that paid for his training and living expenses after finishing fourth in a 2017 competition. So, how much does an Olympian make? The fencer arrived at the Games ranked 19th in foil, and his path didnt get any easier from there: He had to face 2018 world champion Alessio Foconi in the Round of 16 before tangling with the defending Olympic champion, Daniele Garozzo, in the final. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in Olympic history, but the athletes also look forward to the cash prize that comes with it. Lauryn: 15% to 20% generally goes to your agent. For example, tennis star Naomi Osaka reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, and was named the highest-paid female athlete ever, according to reports. Roughly 60% of Team USA's athletes in Tokyo made less than $25,000 a year, according to Forbes. Polish ski jumper Dawid Kubacki claimed bronze in the men's normal hill individual, earning him a bonus of. Singapore pays its athletes $744,000 for a gold, $372,000 for. Most teams have corporate or private sponsors who pay for the Olympians' costs. Compared to the Olympics and their large monetary rewards, Paralympic champions historically have not earned as much for each medal finish. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Since getting out of the service in 2017, Bae has missed about half of his cuts and now only ranks No. As of Friday night, Singapore was not among the 70 countries that had scored a medal at these Games, but it could contend in the womens team table tennis event next week. Then in June he quit his job. I started driving for DoorDash. But what else does it earn them? That's being rich. Eko Yuli Irawan is the delegations best performer so far in Tokyo, having captured a silver in the mens 61-kilogram division of weightlifting. Athletes who win gold receive 1 million ringgit ($236,149), while silver winners are awarded 300,000 ringgit, and 100,000 ringgit is given to athletes who win bronze. A Kazakhstan government official announced this month that gold-medal winners would receive$250,000, silver medalists $150,000 and bronze medalists $75,000. Everyone, that is, except for boxer and former Olympian Floyd Mayweather who earned at least an estimated $80M, possibly more, in just one fight (against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez) alone in 2013. The U.S. payout structure is similar to other countries in the Americas like Brazil and Chile, which offer financial incentives in the tens-of-thousands range. (Update, February 7: On top of that big prize, the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong offers smaller rewards of its own, including the equivalent of $1,900 for gold.). This is very common with medal-winning Olympians. The countrys Central Asian neighbors also reportedly offer big cash prizes to medalists. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko awards Russian two-time silver medalist swimmer Yulia Yefimova with the Order of Honour during a ceremony at the Kremlin on Aug. 25, 2016, in Moscow. Some countries, mostly those who win very few medals, are much more generous with their prize money, according to moneyunder30.com. South Korea: $55,000 (The special bonus will be explained momentarily.) Get the details here. To read and save unlimited articles, sign up to become a GH+ member. However, the Olympic Committee tends to pay for most of the expenses, such as food, accommodation and transportation. Narrator: The International Olympic Committee doesn't award athletes cash prizes for medals. Russia Is the Only Winner in the Kamila Valieva Mess, Its Time for USA Gymnastics to Take the Fall Its Been Avoiding, The 24 Craziest Stats From the Tokyo Olympics. Narrator: Sponsorship deals among athletes are inconsistent, ranging from hundreds of dollars to millions. Cheung Ka-long won a tense individual foil fencing match against one of the top ranked men in the world, Alessio Foconi of Italy, to advance to the quarterfinals. Lauryn: The USOPC has something called Operation Gold. Additionally, they stay in the Olympic village for around a month. For example, retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has made more than $30 million in one year just from endorsements alone, per AS. Aaron: If I got to get shoes every two to three months, that's $200, $300. In comparison, Singapore rewards its gold medalists nearly 20 times more than the U.S. Players who clinch their first individual gold medal for the city-state stand to receive 1 million Singapore dollars ($737,000). If you're on the Burton team you're probably getting a salary and most expenses paid. More than half of U.S. Olympic hopefuls, or 59%, reported making less than $25,000 during the year of their respective Olympics, according to a COVID-19 impact survey distributed to 4,400. Estimates put his net worth at around $55 million. After an August 2016 decree, Malaysias Paralympians receive the same amounts. Eighth place is worth 153 BSB, or about $7,000. We get a stipend, and it is $300 a month. The pay structure has left many athletes broke, driving for DoorDash, or crowdsourcing. For elite athletes, theres a loophole: win a medal at the Olympics or the Asian Games. Individual-sport athletes from Bulgaria are eligible to receive up to about $143,000 per gold medal, depending on the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Aaron: In a matter of 22 hours, I want to say it was, I had all the money that I needed, and it was such a wild moment for me.