00:00Hi everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is my Forbes colleague,
00:07staff writer, Justin Birnbaum. Justin, thanks so much for coming on.
00:11Thanks for having me, Brittany.
00:12The Olympics are fully underway, and aside from bringing your country tremendous honor when you
00:17win an Olympic medal, you're reporting that some countries are offering a six-figure payday.
00:23So first, let's start right at home. If an American athlete takes home gold,
00:27how much money are they earning, and who's paying for it?
00:30Sure. So the medal bonuses for the United States are paid out by the United States Olympic and
00:36Paralympic Committee. Gold earns you $37,500, just shy of $40,000. And the important thing
00:42to note about the gold medals or any of the medal bonuses with the United States is that
00:47they do not divvy it up. If you win a medal, you get the fully ascribed bonus for that,
00:53whereas other nations have different amounts or will divvy up the bonuses if you're in a
00:57team setting or something like that.
00:58So let's talk about those other medals. Let's say you take home silver or bronze.
01:03What's your payday look like?
01:04For the U.S., silver will net you $22,500, bronze $15,000. Like I said before, you know,
01:13every member of a team would get that bonus as opposed to it being divvied up or anything like
01:17that. And yeah.
01:19Let's say you go to the Olympic Games as an American athlete. You compete,
01:24but you come home empty handed. Do you get any money just for participating?
01:28So I just want to be clear, you know, those bonuses are explicit cash prizes for winning
01:34a medal. That's not to say the USOPC and other governing bodies don't offer benefits in the
01:39form of grants or health insurance or health benefits. So there are other things associated
01:44with competing at the Olympics. If you're talking explicit cash bonuses, then yes,
01:49in the case of the United States, you have to get on the podium.
01:52Other nations, including some that we'll talk about, you know, pay out to places that don't
01:56necessarily end up on the podium. But yeah, to get an explicit cash bonus for the United States,
02:02you have to be gold medal, silver medal or bronze medal.
02:06Talk about how other countries and territories compare to America when paying out their
02:10athletes. Do all athletes who medal get paid equally?
02:14So that is at the discretion of the National Olympic Committees or the
02:18sports ministries for the many nations competing. So Forbes reached out to all 206 countries and
02:23territories participating in the Olympics. We were able to confirm that 33 do pay cash prizes
02:30for medal bonuses, and of those 33, 15 pay over six figures. So it can really depend on where
02:36you're from, how well you do in terms of monetary and financial compensation from the Olympics.
02:42But yeah, I mean, there are other benefits there. It varies widely from country to country,
02:46and it really comes down to what the National Olympic Committee or their sports ministry decide.
02:50We'll talk about those other benefits in a moment. But before that,
02:53you said some countries, 15 to be exact, are paying six figures for a gold medal.
02:58Who's paying the most?
03:00Yeah, to be clear, we were able to confirm 15. You know,
03:03it's possible that other nations could be and we just, you know, were unable to confirm that.
03:08So of the countries that we confirm this information with, Hong Kong is the leader
03:12in the clubhouse. They offer nearly $800,000 for a gold medal, which is just a stunning number
03:18there. What's funny is, you know, in our data, Israel and Serbia came after them paying just
03:24over about 200 grand. And if you earn a silver with Hong Kong, that pays about $380,000,
03:31which is more than gold medals for many of these other countries.
03:35Clearly, it's a good day to be an Olympic medal winner for one of these countries or territories.
03:40But do you know why these countries pay their athletes, their winning athletes rather,
03:44so much money compared to others?
03:46Yeah, I think all this comes down to, you know, what the National Olympic Committees
03:51and the sports ministries for these nations and territories decide. You know, in some cases,
03:58the bonuses are paid out by the National Olympic Committee, some by the sports ministries,
04:02some by both. National pride is a huge thing. Different countries, you know,
04:08like to show their gratitude for success on the stage in different ways. And it's really,
04:13it is at the discretion, you know, different countries are going to do things differently,
04:17probably has a little to do with resources, too, and what they can and can't do. But,
04:21you know, it really comes down to just how these countries and territories want to do these things.
04:26I know we've been focusing the conversation talking about these cash prizes, but are there
04:31any other benefits that countries award Olympic athletes who medal and some that just participate?
04:37So to be clear, some countries will pay out beyond the podium, meaning there are cash prizes,
04:42even if you don't come in first, second, or third. Others, in some cases, there are monthly
04:46allowances that will continue, whether it's the end of the Olympic cycle or if it's, you know,
04:52for life. Serbia offers a pension. Also, New Zealand has a $40,000 bonus for gold medalists
04:58that they get paid annually for an entire Olympic cycle. So in the end, that actually ends up being
05:02more than six figures as well, even though it's not at once. Denmark offers a relatively small
05:07bonus of $15,000, but it's tax-free, which in a nation like that with a high tax rate is, like,
05:12a really crucial point. And then you have Poland, which has kind of a really unique and interesting
05:17slew of benefits. If you medal for Poland, you get a painting from a talented and respected
05:23Polish artist, investment-grade diamond, vacation voucher for two, and either a one-room or a
05:29two-room apartment, I'm sorry, bedroom apartment in the Warsaw metropolitan area. So, yeah, they
05:35have a really unique package. I mean, that sounds like something, a prize package you would win on
05:39the prizes, right? But medal recipients in some countries, like Norway, Iceland, and Sweden,
05:44are not financially compensated. Did they give you a reason as to why not? Yeah, I can point out
05:50the answer we got from Sweden, because it ended up being in the article, but we had communicated
05:54with the Swedish Olympic Committee, and they had pointed out that they support their athletes
05:58throughout their entire Olympic cycle. And, you know, it's not necessarily just tying it to the
06:04results of the Olympics. And I think that's a salient point. You know, in a lot of cases,
06:08many of these delegations offer their athletes kind of grants, other benefits to train, to keep
06:15themselves going through these cycles. It is not easy to be an Olympic athlete, and it's not cheap.
06:19And I think in a lot of cases, you'll see that some of these delegations just, you know,
06:25interpret their priorities different. But like Sweden said, you know, like we support them,
06:29you know, throughout the Olympic cycle. So, you know, we don't just want to solely reward them.
06:33We want to reward them throughout the process. And, you know, the United Kingdom is another one.
06:37And what's interesting is while they don't offer medal bonuses, you know, they have governing
06:42bodies that do, like their track and field governing body, which is called British Athletics,
06:45offers medal bonuses. I do want to turn the conversation back to the United States.
06:50And obviously 30-something thousand dollars is just a drop in the bucket for those household
06:55name athletes. Yes, I'm looking at you, LeBron James, but what does this do to lesser known
07:00athletes? Yeah. So like I just said, it's not easy being an Olympic athlete. It's not cheap
07:06either. You're talking about years of training, medical expenses, equipment. There's a lot of
07:13different costs you can rack up. In a lot of cases, you know, they don't have the multi-million
07:17dollar contracts or endorsement deals that LeBron James or Devin Booker or Jason Tatum would have.
07:21You know, like we look at the NBA team, you know, the slew of NBA players representing USA Basketball
07:27and we think, you know, wow, you know, they're making millions and millions of dollars and they
07:32have, you know, the means to subsidize themselves. But there are many athletes representing Team USA
07:36who work jobs, who have careers, who, you know, have to figure out ways to put food on the table.
07:41And, you know, the bonus is a great reward for that. I mean, depending on the athlete and their
07:46financial situation, it can mean more, it can mean less. But, you know, it really is tough to be an
07:52Olympic athlete and it costs a lot of money. So, you know, especially from other nations as well.
07:56So bonuses really do help. Justin Birnbaum, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, Brittany.
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