How Much Are Athletes Paid For Winning Medals At Olympics?

The Olympic Games are a part of an athletic festival that ‌first originated in Ancient Greece and, in modern times, are leading to international sporting events featuring winter and summer sports competitions. Thousands of athletes participate in these games from all around the world. The Olympic Games are now considered ‌the world’s foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. 

Ancient Olympics vs Modern Olympic Games 

The origin of these games goes back to 2.300 years ago when they were held in the Olympia area of ancient Greece. In some theories. The initial purpose of these games was to celebrate a festival of art and sports and worship their respective gods.

The religious nature of the Games was concerned to Zeus, considered as the ruler, protector, and father of gods and humans, and all wars would cease during the contest. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the first Olympics; this was a footrace of about 183 meters, which was only held among men.

Later on, over the years, they started including wrestling and a pentathlon consisting of running, jumping, spear throwing, boxing, and wrestling. 

Pixabay/ Pexels | The Olympics have been hosted by 19 different countries since 1896.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and the 21st centuries have resulted in many adjustments to the game, such as the creation of Winter Games for snow and ice sports and paralympic games for athletes with disabilities. The games also include a youth Olympic Games for athletes from ages 14 to 18.

The Summer Games has a wide array of events that include basketball, boxing, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, running, equestrian arts, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling, and yachting. 

In 1894, around the time of the revival of the Olympics, the French Educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin devised the five-ring emblem which represents the unity of the five continents: America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Pixabay/ Pexels | The Games were named for their location at Olympia, a sacred site located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula

Olympic medals 

The top athletes are recognized with gold, silver and bronze. Some countries also offer medal bonuses that are often paid by the national Olympic committee or the government. In many countries, athletes can also expect bonuses from the national governing body and sponsors for their sport’s performance. 

Different countries reward different bonuses. American Olympians who win a gold medal are awarded $37,500, while silver medal winners receive $15,000 and bronze medal receivers are offered grants and health insurance benefits.

While Japan, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Finland, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland follow a similar bonus structure ranging from $45,000 to $9000, many other countries offer six figures for gold medalists in individual sports. Hong Kong offered the gold medal bonus of $642,000; Turkey offered $383,000; Malaysia Gold Medal Bonus of $238,000 including pension; Italy offered $201,000 and Hungary offered  $156,000 for gold, $111,000 for silver, and $89,000 to bronze medal winners. 

David/ Flickr | Olympic gold medals are required to be made from at least 92.5% silver, and must contain a minimum of 6 grams of gold

In some countries, it truly is all about pride and patriotism, because they don’t offer any compensation for their Olympic medalists, who have to rely exclusively on endorsements or speeches to cash in on their Olympic fame. Examples of those countries are Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand.