Gold medalist USA’s Nathan Chen celebrates on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 10.
Sebastien Bozon | AFP | Getty Images
The 2022 Winter Olympics is effectively underway in Beijing, and greater than 200 medals have already been awarded to athletes from world wide.
Finishing on the rostrum is a matter of nationwide satisfaction. For some winners, it additionally means taking dwelling a money bonus and opening doorways to uncommon multimillion-dollar sponsorship alternatives.
The International Olympic Committee doesn’t pay prize cash to medalists, however many nations supply financial rewards to their athletes for the variety of medals they win at both the Summer Olympics or Winter Olympics.
CNBC compiled the chart beneath, sourcing info from numerous nationwide Olympic committees, sports activities associations and private finance website Money Under 30.
The knowledge 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 cash isn’t taxable except athletes report gross revenue that exceeds $1 million.
American athletes additionally obtain different types of help equivalent to medical insurance, entry to top-tier medical services and faculty tuition help.
The U.S. despatched greater than 200 athletes to compete in Beijing. Team USA has to date bagged 7 gold medals, 6 silver and three bronze.
At the 2021 summer season video games, American athletes took dwelling 39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze — racking up the very best medal tally by any nation in Tokyo.
How a lot do different nations pay?
Some nations and territories present a lot larger financial incentives for his or her athletes to complete on the rostrum. Experts say a few of it’s an try and develop nationwide sporting cultures.
Singapore, for instance, rewards its gold medalists almost 20 instances greater than the U.S.
Players 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 successful 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 presents hefty rewards for its athletes. Hong Kong, which competes individually from China on the Olympics, final 12 months provided 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 12 months, a number of politicians and company manufacturers reportedly introduced thousands and thousands of rupees in financial reward for the athlete.
Apart from medal bonuses, winners in these nations are additionally provided different compensations. For instance when Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz gained the nation’s first Olympic gold final 12 months, she was reportedly provided two houses and free flights for all times.
To start with, clinching a spot on the Olympics staff isn’t a straightforward feat and athletes dedicate most of their time to coaching for the video games — that makes holding down full-time employment tough.
In some sports activities, gear, teaching and entry to coaching venues can even rack up an athlete’s bills.
While sportspeople from greater, extra aggressive nations obtain stipends or coaching grants from their nationwide sports activities associations, others maintain down a wide range of jobs or flip to crowdsourcing to finance their Olympic goals.
Top performers additionally accumulate prize cash by successful nationwide and worldwide tournaments.
How onerous is it to get sponsored?
Only a handful of high athletes land multimillion greenback endorsements or sponsorship offers, both earlier than competing on the Olympics or after reaching success within the Games.
Snowboarder Shaun White, for instance, obtained 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 12 months in sponsorships, in accordance with NBC.
Last 12 months, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and gymnast Simone Biles obtained thousands and thousands in endorsements forward of the summer season video games, Forbes reported. Meanwhile, tennis star Naomi Osaka reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, and was named the highest-paid feminine athlete ever, in accordance with studies.
But scoring profitable offers is uncommon, and hardly the norm.
Most Team USA athletes will not be represented by sports activities brokers and a few don’t have any sponsors or endorsements in any respect, in accordance with a Forbes report.
Disclosure: CNBC dad or mum NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games via 2032.