Gold medalist USA’s Nathan Chen celebrates on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Video games on February 10.
Sebastien Bozon | AFP | Getty Pictures
The 2022 Winter Olympics is nicely underway in Beijing, and more than 200 medals have already been awarded to athletes from all over the world.
Ending on the rostrum is a matter of nationwide satisfaction. For some winners, it additionally means taking residence a money bonus and opening doorways to uncommon multimillion-dollar sponsorship alternatives.
The Worldwide Olympic Committee doesn’t pay prize cash to medalists, however many international locations supply financial rewards to their athletes for the variety of medals they win at both the Summer time Olympics or Winter Olympics.
CNBC compiled the chart beneath, sourcing info from numerous nationwide Olympic committees, sports activities associations and personal finance site Money Under 30.
The information confirmed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards its athletes $37,500 for each gold medal gained, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. Most of that prize money is not taxable until athletes report gross revenue that exceeds $1 million.
American athletes additionally obtain different types of assist corresponding to medical health insurance, entry to top-tier medical amenities and faculty tuition help.
The U.S. despatched more than 200 athletes to compete in Beijing. Workforce USA has to this point bagged 7 gold medals, 6 silver and three bronze.
On the 2021 summer season video games, American athletes took residence 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze — racking up the very best medal tally by any nation in Tokyo.
How a lot do different international locations pay?
Some international locations and territories present a lot larger financial incentives for his or her athletes to complete on the rostrum. Consultants say a few of it’s an try and develop nationwide sporting cultures.
Singapore, for instance, rewards its gold medalists practically 20 instances greater than the U.S.
Gamers who clinch their first particular person gold medal for the city-state stand to obtain 1 million Singapore dollars ($737,000). The prize cash is taxable and the profitable recipients are required to return a portion of it to their nationwide sports activities associations for future coaching and growth.
Kazakhstan pays their athletes about $250,000 for a gold medal, Italy provides about $213,000, the Philippines round $200,000 whereas Malaysia additionally offers hefty rewards for its athletes. Hong Kong, which competes individually from China on the Olympics, last year offered 5 million Hong Kong dollars ($641,000) for gold winners.
When India’s javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra secured the nation’s first gold in track-and-field in Tokyo final yr, a number of politicians and company manufacturers reportedly announced millions of rupees in monetary reward for the athlete.
Aside from medal bonuses, winners in these international locations are additionally provided different compensations. For instance when Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s first Olympic gold final yr, she was reportedly provided two houses and free flights for life.
To start with, clinching a spot on the Olympics workforce isn’t a simple feat and athletes dedicate most of their time to coaching for the video games — that makes holding down full-time employment troublesome.
In some sports activities, gear, teaching and entry to coaching venues can even rack up an athlete’s bills.
Whereas sportspeople from greater, extra aggressive international locations receive stipends or training grants from their nationwide sports activities associations, others maintain down a variety of jobs or flip to crowdsourcing to finance their Olympic goals.
Prime performers additionally gather prize cash by profitable nationwide and worldwide tournaments.
How arduous is it to get sponsored?
Solely a handful of prime athletes land multimillion greenback endorsements or sponsorship offers, both earlier than competing on the Olympics or after attaining success within the Video games.
Snowboarder Shaun White, for instance, acquired his first board sponsorship when he was 7, NBC Sports reported. After he gained his first Olympic gold medal in 2006, snowboard-manufacturing firm Burton signed him on to a 10-year contract and White pocketed an estimated $10 million a yr in sponsorships, based on NBC.
Final yr, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Simone Biles acquired thousands and thousands in endorsements forward of the summer season video games, Forbes reported. In the meantime, tennis star Naomi Osaka reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, and was named the highest-paid feminine athlete ever, based on stories.
However scoring profitable offers is uncommon, and hardly the norm.
Most Workforce USA athletes will not be represented by sports activities brokers and a few haven’t any sponsors or endorsements in any respect, according to a Forbes report.
Disclosure: CNBC mum or dad NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports activities and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer time and Winter Video games by 2032.
