How much money do olympic athletes make per medal

Getty Many of the American Olympic athletes have another job to help them earn a living. Being an Olympic athlete may not be as lucrative as you think. While it varies by country, American athletes do not technically get paid. A gold medal nets medao U. Given the Olympics happen every four years, this is not enough to live on. Former Olympic athlete Edward Etzel wrote an article for Market Watch explaining that many athletes have other mudh.

The highest paid athlete in Rio

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Medal bonuses

)}Finishing fourth place in the meter speed skating race at a key world championship competition earned Mitch Whitmore a nine-month stipend to help fund his training and living expenses. But had he skated half a second faster to finish third, he would have secured a spot on the podium and a monthly stipend that was hundreds of dollars higher, he says. That would have made a difference. Whitmore and many other Olympians are stretched thin financially, often footing hefty team fees and travel expenses. Meanwhile, a rigorous, full-time training schedule leaves little time for paid work. NerdWallet talked to winter athletes competing in the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, about what being an Olympian means for their budgets. Whitmore competed in the Sochi Games and the Vancouver Games and hopes to win his first Olympic medal in Pyeongchang. He relies on the performance-based stipends from the U. Olympic Committee to pay for rent and food, he says. You want it to just be about the competition. The biggest sponsorships often go to the top one or two competitors in each sport. Take alpine skier Stacey Cook, for example. She has competed in three Olympic Games but has never medaled in one, and is competing at the Pyeongchang Games alongside teammates including Lindsey Vonn, who has two U. Olympic medals in the sport and has been sponsored by companies including GoPro and Oakley. Cook is sponsored by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, her home resort in Mammoth Lakes, California, where she hosts camps, fundraisers and other events. Bean and Kashi. Training how much money do olympic athletes make per medal the Olympic circuit is a full-time job, but some athletes make time for part-time gigs.⓬

Olympic Money by Country

Some people dream of competing in the Olympics, but only a select few actually get to see that dream realized. Millions of people from all over the world this month will watch as select athletes get to compete in the Winter Olympics and watching the Olympics might inspire some of those people to become an olympic athlete. But if money was ever motivation for their dreams, then finding out if the Olympic athletes get a salary might just put those dreams to a halt. Money should never stop people from chasing their dreams, but if you thought the life of an Olympian was as glamorous as the cameras make it seem, then you thought wrong. While Olympic athletes do make money, they’re not just working 40 hours a week or more like someone who has an office job and who knows what they’ll be making at the end of each month or each year. Because that is what a «salary» technically is — a fixed amount of money that a person gets paid per paid period, regardless of how much time and effort they put into their job or the projects they take on the side. But Olympic athletes make their money a little differently than most, according to CBS Sports, including athletes who play for a national sports team. Olympic athletes do not sign a contract guaranteeing them money, and according to USA Today , the United States government does not pay athletes for competing in the Olympics , even if they are there to represent the country say what.

Olympic Medal Money: How Much do Athletes Get?

The endorsements however only come to the cream of the Olympic crop, with athletes like phenom Michael Phelps scoring the most medals ever and the most endorsement deal riches. The tables below show the breakdown. That Olympic medal money only goes to U. The table below shows how much money an American champion makes per medal. Aside from the U. Olympic medal money bonuses in the table above, most other countries pay their own prizes. The table below shows some of the top pay rates for gold medals from different countries. Despite being on the low-end of the per-medal Olympics money scale, U. The five top-earning Olympians since are shown in the table below. Michael Phelps tops the list. Phelps has taken 28 medals in all.

What do Olympic athletes actually win?

The wealth of Olympic athletes runs the spectrum from amateurs with next to nothing to professional stars making millions. From medal bonuses to brand endorsements, read on to find out who has the cash to compete and who had to wager it all for a shot at Olympic glory.

Arguably the easiest way for Olympic athletes to make money at the actual Games is to bring home a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Many countries, the United States included, provide payouts to Olympians for medall medals they win. Great Britain offered no medal bonus to its winning athletes.

The U. Instead, a non-profit called the United States Olympic Committee foots the. The committee will reportedly pay U. The government then comes in and taxes those bonuses. Forbes released a list of the highest paid athletes competing in the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

NBA star Kevin Durant topped the list. Durant was also a member of the gold medal U. Olympic basketball team, so he’s definitely got the stats to back up the cash. If you’re a track and field star, you’re likely making peanuts, unless you’re Usain Bolt. Olymic all lightning fast runners are so lucky.

Gabby Douglas may have secured millions in endorsement deals following the Summer Olympics in London, but leading up to that moment, life was hard for her family. According to The Washington PostDouglas’s mother, Natalie Hawkins, was forced to go on disability and could not even pay the family’s water bill in Fortunately, the effects of Douglas’ Olympic glory turned things around for her family.

She may have entered the Games below the poverty line, but she was one of the fortunate Olympians to emerge as a millionaire thanks to endorsements. Nelson decided to sell himself on eBay.

How much money do olympic athletes make per medal to The Washington Athlleteshe offered «what amounts to a short-term sponsorship…promising the winning bidder that he will wear its company logo for one month and will make one appearance on the company’s behalf.

Sarah Robles has been amke as the strongest woman in America, and she definitely earned that title with a seventh place finish in weightlifting’s ollympic weight class at the Olympics. Her path to the London Games was not, however, paved with fame and fortune.

Men on diet pills olympci to look like weightlifters—most women would rather not. We don’t get tons of dough. Maybe one or two percent of athletes can actually make a living off it,» she told Buzzfeed. All rights reserved. How much money Olympic athletes really make. Getty Images. Medal bonuses Getty Images. The highest paid athlete in Rio Getty Images.

Track and field Olympians Getty Images. Medla Douglas: a Cinderella story Getty Images. Adam Ooympic auctions himself Getty Images. Olympoc strongest woman in America Getty Images.

Here’s Why Olympic Athletes Bite Their Medals

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What is the “victory tax”?

)}The 2, athletes competing at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang aren’t getting paid to be. But, if they perform well, they can bring home mich cash. Many countries reward medalists with bonus money. In team sports, each team member splits the pot evenly. That’s 50 percent more than what American medalists earned at the Summer Games. Other countries, but olymppic all, offer a » medal bonus. In the Games, there’s just one athlete from Singapore who could capitalize on the big bonus.⓬