See Every Olympic Champion Wins a Medal. This One Also Gets Free Colonoscopies: Gold medal winners often earn cash prizes for their efforts. When Carlos Yulo won an Olympic title, his prize haul included free wedding photos, haircuts and a lifetime supply of mac-and-cheese by Georgi Kantchev of The WSJ.
Monday's post was about Olympians who went into debt while training. But some win alot of extras. Excerpts from the article:
"Carlos Yulo won two Olympic gold medals for the Philippines. As it turned out, that was just the beginning of the gymnast’s epic prize haul.
At home, he will get a congressional medal and at least $350,000 from the government. Plus, a free set of headlights and fog lights. Also, free wedding photography, haircuts and furniture. And more food than he could eat in an entire lifetime. One local real-estate developer awarded him a fully furnished, three-bedroom apartment in Manila. Not to be outdone, another real-estate company offered him a house."
"Governments around the world, sponsors and private entrepreneurs often compensate athletes with cash, property and the most unusual prizes they can imagine. After the last Summer Games in Tokyo, for example, one Indonesian gold medalist was offered five cows."
"Most countries offer cash rewards to their medaling athletes. Hong Kong is one of the most generous, paying around $768,000 for a gold medal via a funding scheme. U.S. prizes are much more modest. Payments via what the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee calls “Operation Gold” range from $37,500 for a gold medal and $22,500 for silver to $15,000 for bronze, including for team events.
Still, that’s more than the U.K. and Sweden offer to their winners: nothing but pride.
The Kazakhstan government, on the other hand, measures medals in rooms. A gold winner gets a three-bedroom apartment, silver means a two-bedroom and a bronze medalist settles for a one-bedroom."
Related posts:
Does It Pay to Host the Olympics?
Canada Wins The Olympics! (based on the market value of the medals)
Economic benefits from mega-events like the Olympics are often overstated
To Go for the Gold, These Olympians Went Into the Red
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