Many Countries Pay Big Bonuses For Olympic Medals. This One Is Shelling Out $2.7 Million.
2 days ago · For the second Winter Olympics in a row, Norway won the most medals of any nation ...
Duration: 2:57
Posted: 2 days ago
Duration: 2:57
Posted: 2 days ago
"For the second Winter Olympics in a row, Norway won the most medals of any nation competing, piling up 37 over the last two weeks in Beijing. The country also led the way with 16 gold medals, out of the 109 available across the Games’ 15 sports.
But Norway tied for last among the 91 delegations when it came to a different kind of gold.
> While Norway gives athletes stipends to help cover their training expenses, it does not offer any financial incentives specifically for a medal-winning performance.
Dozens of other countries do, however, in some cases offering six-figure bonuses to each medal winner. And of the 31 countries and territories whose medal pay plans Forbes has been able to confirm—18 of which actually won at least one medal in Beijing—no delegation is giving away more than Italy, which is due to pay out $2.7 million for its 17 medals.
Italian Olympians are eligible to receive roughly $201,000 from the country’s national Olympic committee for a gold medal, $101,000 for silver and $67,000 for bronze. That scheme is even more generous because, unlike many other countries, Italy offers the same reward to athletes competing individually and athletes competing as part of a team—so the six short-track speed skaters who won silver in the mixed 2,000-meter relay collectively earned $604,000. And unlike some other countries, Italy continues to pay out bonuses no matter how many medals an athlete wins—so snowboarder Omar Visintin is receiving $168,000 for his silver and bronze.
Above all, Italy stands out because the 11 other delegations Forbes knows to be offering six-figure payouts for a single medal—Hong Kong, Turkey, Malaysia, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Kosovo, Estonia and the Czech Republic—won seven medals in Beijing between them. Most countries that are as successful as Italy grant more modest bonuses. For instance, Team USA pays $37,500 to gold medalists, $22,500 to silver medalists and $15,000 to bronze medalists, whether they competed individually or as part of a team. That puts it on the hook for nearly $1.6 million in bonuses for its 25 medals in Beijing. Taxpayers can rest easy, though: The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which created the incentives, gets its funding from a nonprofit foundation, not the government. . ."
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