Just making it to the Olympics as an athlete is incredibly impressive, and winning a medal, even more so. But beating out all other competitors to win a gold medal can be life-changing and pretty lucrative, depending on what country the athlete is from. A new survey of medal payouts for Olympic athletes reveals what they’ll get from their countries for bringing home the gold.
- “USA Today” Sports reached out to the national Olympic committees of 40 countries about their medal payouts and 25 responded.
- The average of those 25 will pay the equivalent of $95-thousand for gold, $55-thousand for silver and $39-thousand for bronze.
- The country included in the survey that pays the most is Serbia, where those who win gold at the Paris Olympics will get $214,900.
- Athletes winning gold from Malaysia and Morocco will also receive more than $200-thousand from their country’s government or national Olympic committee.
- At least six other countries have payouts of more than $100-thousand and some throw in other perks for gold medal-winning athletes, like vacations and apartments, or extra money for breaking an Olympic record.
- Team USA athletes get quite a bit less. Their payouts, offered through what the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee calls “Operation Gold,” are $37,500 for every gold medal at the Paris Games, $22,500 for each silver medal and $15-thousand for every bronze.
Countries with the highest payouts for gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, according to the survey:
- Serbia - $214,900
- Malaysia - $212,180
- Morocco - $200,525
- Italy - $193,410
- Lithuania - $180,188
- Hungary - $155,000
- Ukraine - $125,000
- Kosovo - $107,450
- Spain - $101,003
- Greece - $96,705
Source: USA Today