Seriously, when else do you watch curling, handball, or the pentathlon? For many athletes, winning an Olympic gold medal is the ultimate dream. Whether they medal or not, Olympic athletes’ pay levels vary widely. You might be surprised to see how much Olympians make. Many professional athletes, who will never compete in the Olympics, earn more than many Olympians. How much Olympic athletes earn depends on the sport, which nation they represent, and if they win any medals. It’s safe to assume most Olympic athletes compete for the love of the game. Athletes don’t receive a base salary from the International Olympic Committee just for competing in the Olympics; however, they may earn a stipend or one-time payment from their country’s Olympic committee. Each nation has a different payment policy.
Olympic Money by Country
Being an Olympic athlete requires a tremendous amount of dedication — and understandably so. The sports are all grueling, and to actually make it to the Olympics, an athlete needs to have trained in said grueling sport for most of their lives in order to even have a chance at making it to the games. More often than not, athletes are so focused on their training that it takes over their entire lives. Because of this, they don’t have time to work or earn a living in some way — a thought that leads many people to wonder: How much do Olympians get paid? The short answer? Uh, nothing. According to Business Insider , Olympians don’t get paid simply for participating in the games by anyone associated with the Olympics. The long answer, though, is a little more complicated than that. While an Olympic athlete won’t get paid for being part of the games, they will get paid if they win — from a variety of sources. Medal bonuses are the most common way Olympians see money from their sport of choice, for starters: The national Olympic committees from some countries offer monetary prizes for placing first, second, or third. Remember — there are thousands of athletes participating, and only about 1, medals being awarded. That means that thousands of athletes aren’t seeing a dime from their hard work and dedication if they don’t actually win any medals.
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The more medals athletes win, the more money they make. If a team wins, each member gets their own money — the team doesn’t all split one sum. This money is meant as an incentive, and according to Forbes , began in Aside from the fact that taxes still need to be taken out, this money is meant to compensate for an entire lives’ worth of work — that doesn’t really make up for that! To add insult to injury, Forbes says that USOC hasn’t increased the medal payouts since , meaning that 16 years of inflation have not been accounted for. Well, at least Olympians don’t have to pay to get to the games and stay there too, right? Uh, not really: Olympic committees will usually cover travel expenses, but MoneyUnder30 claims it typically is not enough to cover everything , and athletes usually have to bring in their own money to pay for everything.
The Goal of Gold
Share this infographic on your site! Source: SportsManagementDegreeHub. However, Olympic athletes are typically nowhere nearly as fortunate. Athletes have to fund their way either from their own pockets or through other means. How do Olympians fund their Olympic dreams? One way is out of their own pockets. According to bankrate. Looks like quite a trend there snowboarding, alpine skiing , though keep in mind that Sochi was for Winter Olympics. Also note, this does not mean these athletes paid their own way to the Olympics.
Similar to actors hoping to become a famous movie star, many amateur athletes side hustle to pay the bills. His famous pot-smoking scandal only helped his popularity. For many athletes, winning an Olympic gold medal is the ultimate dream. It just so happened to be a gold medal. Other Posts You May Enjoy. Each country’s Olympic committee determines how much their athletes make for winning a medal, but the real money is in endorsements.
Olympic champions obviously earn multi-million-dollar endorsement deals. But, you may not realize, the earnings don’t stop. Besides chewing on their medals and accepting those weird statuestop athletes usually earn prize money from their country’s Olympic committee. How much prize money do athletes win for a gold medal? Rio Olympics pic. The USOC’s «Operation Gold» has written out big checks since the Winter Olympics to incentivize dominant performances and help pay off training expenses.
The funds all come from private donors, not tax dollars, although Uncle Sam does take a percentage of the winnings. Some athletes also receive money from their respective sports’ organizations, like USA Swimming.
As for team events like soccer or basketball, each member gets their own bonus versus splitting the pie. But what about amateur athletes like Katie Ledecky? The Maryland native doesn’t top Singapore’s Joseph Schooling.
College athletes at Rio may accept prize money from their country’s Olympics governing body. So the next time you wonder what’s motivating these incredible athletes, remember, it’s a little more than just bragging rights. Product Reviews. Type keyword s to search. Today’s Top Stories. Getty Images. Advertisement — Continue Reading Below. More From Money. The Best After-Christmas Sales of Money Life How 15 U.
Olympic Medal Money: How Much do Athletes Get?
I loved almost everything olym;ics I, Tonyabut one of the things that stood out to me was how much it costs to be an Olympic athlete. I was particularly struck by one scene, in which judges knock points off of Tonya Harding’s performance because her handmade costume isn’t sharp enough, because she can’t afford a sleeker outfit. Later, after competing in kuch Olympics, Harding monej waitressing, having failed to place high enough to win endorsements. I wondered, how do Olympic athletes make money? First, let’s take a minute to discuss how much it costs to compete in the Olympics.
How Olympic Athletes Make a Living
According to Forbes, families who raise Olympic athletes spend thousands of dollars a year on their training. Considering it often takes as much as a decade of training to make it to the Olympics, that racks up to quite a big chunk of change, and since athletes aren’t paid by the International Olympic Committee to compete, the costs can be hard, if not impossible, to recoup.
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