Russian athletes who won gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics have each been rewarded with a Mercedes GL-Class SUV worth $146,500. It gives medalists a lifetime allowance starting at age 45: 100% of the average net salary in the country for gold medalists (roughly $1,100 in 2021), falling to 80% for silver medalists and 60% for bronze. The United States pays a handsome fee per medal: $37,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 for each silver medal, and $15,000 for each bronze medal. That said, those at the Phelps level have to send a good chunk of their payouts right back to Uncle Sam.) Roughly 60% of Team USA's athletes in Tokyo made less than $25,000 a year, according to Forbes. For most athletesaside from a few highly paid Olympians like Kevin Durant and Naomi Osakacompeting at this elite level is a financial struggle. Struggling to get a decent living, Zhang remained homeless and. While all A-level athletes each month get a salary of about $2,800 and roughly $2,500 for training, gold medalists see their monthly wage rise to $4,500 for two years, with the same preparation funding. South Koreas podium prize might be the most practical: The country enforces one of the worlds longest forced military service conscription policies in the world. Additionally, they stay in the Olympic village for around a month. This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 15:14. He'd been making $10 an hour at a resort, but he gave notice because he couldn't get race . Insuring the Olympics a $2.5 billion affair. A Division of NBCUniversal. In 2012, CNBC cited Italy as the country with the world's highest payout, offering its athletes $182,400 for each gold medal. Olympic athletes train for years at a time, competing in various events ahead of the Winter Olympics. U.S. athletes also receive other forms of support including health insurance, access to top-tier medical facilities and college tuition assistance. But each of the young athletes also will receive more than $205,000 for their success. This is very common with medal-winning Olympians. Narrator: That's because sponsorships don't just depend on the sport. 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. Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. You may opt-out by. . Heres what winners around the world can take homealong with their gold, silver, or bronze. Athletes can sign personal sponsorship deals to earn money apart from winning medals. The average salary for volleyball players is $45,722. So, the Chinese medalists will at least be fashionable. Maggie Steffens: Some of us as athletes have been really fortunate to gain individual sponsorships. Per NBC, U.S. Olympic winners get $37,500 for winning gold, $22,500 for winning silver, and $15,000 for winning bronze. [24], Incentives for Olympic medalists by country, Incentives by Country (USD equivalent in 2021), "Money for medals: Olympic glory can also be very lucrative for athletes from these countries", "Here's how much Olympic athletes earn for winning medals", "These 10 Countries Offer Six-Figure Payouts To Their Olympic Medalists", "Here's How Much Money Olympic Gold Medalists Win in Each Country", "How much money a Canadian Olympian earns versus the rest of the world | Offside", "Canadian Olympic Committee Athlete Excellence Fund (AEF)", "Fencers to receive 200,000 in prize money from Estonian Olympic Committee", "Hong Kong athletes chasing HK$5 million cash carrot for winning gold", "ASEAN nations offer huge rewards to Olympic medalists", "Kazakhstan to give prize money to athletes winning in Olympics", "Duterte adds P100,000 to Filipino Tokyo Olympians' game allowance", "Here's how much athletes around the world earn for Olympic victory", "Foxconn founder suggests Taiwan shower Olympic athletes with cash", "Thai stars kick off quest for Games glory", "Singapore medallists' reward scheme renamed Major Games Award Programme", "Olympic Heroes Honoured At The London 2012 Olympic Games Awards And Appreciation Dinner", "Why is government giving Hidilyn Diaz P10 million? These totals absolutely dwarf payments from Olympic committees like that of the United States. Moments of Olympic glory aren't just paybacks for years of hard work. In 2016, along with straight cash, the Russian government gave away luxury cars, apartments, and a literal racehorse to various winners for the country at the Rio Games. Australia, however, offers far less Olympic medal prize money relative to other nations. Competitors don't really receive a fixed salary. But many Olympic medalists. Plus, there are also hefty costs associated with competing at this level. In Beijing, Meinhardt became the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer of all time. That's being rich. 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. With of all this time designated to the Olympics, how do Olympic athletes make money? But that money doesn't come from the International Olympic Committee. To read and save unlimited articles, sign up to become a GH+ member. China and Russia, two Olympic powerhouses, have reportedly paid medalists at past Games but were among the delegations that did not respond to requests for comment about their plans for Beijing. The self-proclaimed "Shot Diva" just became the first American woman to win shot put at the Olympics, and set a new national record. Lauryn: I've seen athletes get very upset because they've performed really well, better than their competitor even, but the competitor has a lot more sponsorship opportunity. Some other countries similarly offer pensions to medalists, including Croatia, which has had more success on the snow, with 11 medals in its Winter Olympic history. So always going into a race with that is an immense amount of pressure. But I wouldn't be upset if in the future, we were able to make some more money and not necessarily have to have two jobs. It's now up to $30,000. 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. The Estonian Olympic Committee bestows roughly $112,000 for each individual-sport gold, $78,000 for silver and $50,000 for bronze. . Here's Just How Much Money Olympic Athletes Make, What Is Simone Biles' Net Worth? Multiple Korean athletes have already earned themselves a pass in Tokyo: 17-year-old Kim Je-deok, who won multiple medals in the archery competition; the gold-winning fencers on the mens sabre team; and gymnast Shin Jea-hwan, who took home the gold in mens vault. Unfortunately, this exacerbates the inequality of the Olympicsonly some countries have enough disposable athletic funding to dole out payments to anyone who trains or wins medals. We get a stipend, and it is $300 a month. Narrator: How much funding an athlete gets depends on performance, and Lauryn: Their ability is to be able to earn medals. Additionally, Olympians can receive an athletic grant or part-time job through the Olympic Job Opportunities Program. Whitmore, the speed skater, explained that financial worries put a lot of extra pressure on Olympians. If youre competing for Team China, the government is moving away from cash prizes. 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. For Olympic athletes who may not be big names quite yet, they often receive funding from friends or family and local businesses. mandatory military service following their training. Most of that prize money is not taxable unless athletes report gross income that exceeds $1 million. Athletes don't get paid for taking part in the Summer or Winter Olympic Games, but do tend to receive a monetary reward from their country's Olympic committee if they win a medal. Something like a $250,000 earning turns into $125,000 really quick. But, if they do well at the games the athletes can make some serious money. Following issues with corruption and cheating at the Olympics and Asian Games, the countrys General Administration of Sport promised to drop prizes to provincial governments for their local medalists wins, to curb the prevalence of both corruption and cheating. But a recent global study of 500 elite athletes found that nearly 60% did not consider themselves financially stable. Phil thinks that some of the funding for Team USA should come from the US government. So what kind of consistent salaries do athletes get? And instead of a onetime jackpot, Malaysia, Estonia, and Indonesia promise their winning athletes decades of subsidies. The Winter Olympics take place in Beijing, China this month with nearly 3,000 total athletes traveling to the games. This is a BETA experience. Although the medal bonuses help, it is not enough money to live off of, especially when the Olympic Games only occur every four years. The U.S. Olympic Committee pays $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for a silver, and $15,000 for a bronze. A gold medal is worth $37,500, a silver medal is worth $22,500 and a bronze medal is worth $15,000. Turns out, it varies. The nation also dropped rewards for team officials. US Olympians . With approximately 15,000 athletes competing in 26 sports, with around 1,000 medals up for grabs, as CNN reported, the majority of Olympic athletes will see neither medal nor sponsorship. For Olympic athletes who may not be big names quite yet, they often receive funding from friends or family and local businesses. I started driving for DoorDash. Here, we dive into the math behind 15 Olympians' take-home pay, from hourly wages to multi-million-dollar salaries. She was the first American woman to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Women's Health may earn commission from the links on this page, but we only feature products we believe in. During this year's Winter . Massage therapists, nutritionists. Here are the top 5 prizes awarded by nations to their winning Olympic athletes Subscribe to NowThis: http://go.nowth.is/News_Subscribe Sign up for our n. Rp 5 billion, Rp 2 billion, and Rp 1 billion, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. Despite his contract with the New England Patriots, Ebner got the a-OK to compete in rugby sevens for the sport's debut in the Olympics. Like Indonesia, the Malaysian government gives medalists both a one-time payment and a monthly allowance: an upfront check of roughly $237,000 for gold, $71,000 for silver or $24,000 for bronze. The host country of these Games, Japan, pays similarly, with medal bonuses of roughly $45,000 for gold, $18,000 for silver and $9,000 for bronzeexcept in baseball, with members of the Japanese team reportedly in line for an extra $45,000 if they can win the tournament. Here's an insight into where their income comes from. Italy has also adopted a model of massive payoutsalthough a little less than Singapore. Other competitors resort to crowdfunding sites to gather the money and support they need to keep competing. Do Russian Olympic athletes get paid for medals? Athletes receive between $52,000 to $80,000. As long as the athlete's other earnings don't exceed $1 million, the medal . 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. Winning the US Open when I was involved was a $25k payday, and if you are even in the semi-finals (top 32) you are definitely sponsored. (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.). Athletes from bigger, more competitive countries receive stipends or training grants from their national sports associations. Then in June he quit his job. Lauryn: 15% to 20% generally goes to your agent. But now, athletes' sponsors can run certain ads during the Rule 40 period. Bae explained that he lost [his] feel how to play golf. 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. Narrator: Sponsorship deals among athletes are inconsistent, ranging from hundreds of dollars to millions. The table below shows some of the top pay rates for gold medals from different countries. (If my Google currency conversion is correct, thats northward of $600,000.) How much do Olympic athletes get paid? 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. But those are mostly theoretical exercises: Neither delegation has ever won a Winter Olympic medal. If you're on the Burton team you're probably getting a salary and most expenses paid. Narrator: Compare that to track and field, where 128 American athletes are headed to the Olympic Games competing for 48 gold medals. Most Team USA athletes are not represented by sports agents and some have no sponsors or endorsements at all, according to a Forbes report. Several have actually gone into debt competing in the Olympicslike former UFC star Ronda Rousey, who became homeless a few months after winning a judo bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games. Swimming, there's a lot of money, gymnastics, there's a lot of money. Got it. Lauryn: When sponsors and brands are looking at athletes, they're looking at marketability, the return on investment they're going to get. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. The Russian Olympic Committees theme song when winning gold is Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. Athleta now sponsors Simone Biles. Beyond receiving monetary and non-monetary rewards from their countries for winning medals, Olympians rely on other revenue streams for their sporting endeavors. 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. Canada is not the only country to reward their Olympic athletes for earning medals. A 29-year-old Olympian who reaches the life expectancy of 78 would collect more than $300,000. Silver medalists get $22,400, while bronze medalists get $15,000, as per Forbes. All males in South Korea are drafted into 18 months of mandatory military service following their training. But, if they do well at the games the athletes can make some serious money.