How Much Is Winning Gold Worth? Here's Which Countries Pay Their First Place Olympians Six-Figures

Forbes

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Forbes contacted the national Olympic committees or government sports ministries of all 206 countries and territories participating and confirmed that at least 33 will award cash prizes for medals. Forbes staff writer Justin Birnbaum joins "Forbes Talks" to break it down.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/07/26/these-countries-pay-olympians-six-figure-bonuses-for-winning-gold/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

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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