Sponsorships aside, you may be wondering if Olympians are paid for all of their hard work. The short answer is yes… but it’s a little more complicated than that. For the record, The International Olympic Committee does not give out money for participating in the Games nor does it give out money for winning gold, silver, or bronze medals. However, there are “Olympic medal bonuses,” which are awarded to Olympians by the countries they represent.
In the U.S., Olympic winners get $37,500 for winning gold, $22,500 for winning silver, and $15,000 for winning bronze as part of “Operation Gold.” Operation Gold is an initiative that the USOPC launched in 2017. That’s per medal! So if you win two gold medals and a bronze, you could be awarded a total of $90-thousand.
Since October 2016, legislation has ensured athletes will bring home 100% of their earnings, too. There used to be a “victory tax” that previously designated prize money as taxable earned income, but they got rid of that in 2016. However, Olympians who report gross income of more than $1 million a year are still subject to the tax.
So the United States awards $37,500 per gold medal, but what about other countries? Singapore offers what seems to be the biggest prize for an individual medal: 1 million in Singaporean dollars, or roughly $750,000 USD. Silver medal winners get about $369,000 and $184,000 for bronze, CNBC reports. Medalists from the next highest two countries, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, earn about $250,000 for a gold medal. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics host country Japan gave athletes finishing at the podium $45,000 for gold, $18,000 for silver, and $9,000 for bronze.
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. gold-medal bonus of $37,500 was ranked ninth in the world.
Of course, Olympians end up on cereal boxes and on television commercials as well, employing their likenesses to products and services through individual deals. Those vary per Olympian and per company but usually, the household name Olympians can bring in millions.
Did you know there are couples competing in this year’s Olympics? Can you imagine if they both brought home gold…talk about a good year!