This info about what US athletes are paid for winning medals shocked me!

[napi21]

The U.S. Olympic Committee pays out a $25,000 bonus per gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. The money does not come from the U.S. government. The U.S. Olympic Committee gets its money from the sale of broadcast rights, licensing and trademark income, and corporate sponsorships. Those bonuses pale in comparison to some other nations – Kazakhstan pays $250,000 USD for a gold, Indonesia pays $381,000 USD for a gold, and Singapore leads the list with a $741,000 USD gold medal bonus.

I got this info from a trivia site, but have no reason to doubt it.

Kazakhstan & Indonesia reward their athletes that much more???? I always put those countries way behind the US. Are we REALLY turning into a third world country?

[greymattermom]

1. They probably don't get paid

for Tide pods commercials.

[yallerdawg]

2. Michael Phelps is estimated to be worth $55,000,000.

The US had over 500 Olympians. Many of the other countries have as few as one!

I'd say we are doing all right, since we pay out more gold medals than 159 other countries!

That was Singapore's first gold medal ever!

[jberryhill]

3. You think the athletes should pay $9900 in tax on their own? Please explain your reasoning

Do you know what the assessed income value of an Olympic medal is?

The IRS assessment on a gold medal is $9900, and that's on top of state income taxes.

Or were you thinking that the medals aren't "income" by some magic?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/08/15/olympics-victory-tax-gold-medal/88587636/

The maximum possible "victory tax" on the bonus for each gold medal, using the top tax rate of 39.6% for the nation's highest earners, is $9,900, according to Americans for Tax Reform. For silver, it's $5,940, and for bronze it's $3,960. Athletes in lower tax brackets would owe less — and keep in mind that some or all of their massive training expenses would likely be deductible, whether they treat their sport as a business or a hobby.

Actually, the article misses the import duty, since the value is well above the duty-free limit.

So, yeah, they have to pay tax on the medals, and then tax on the payment to cover the tax (about another third).

$15,000 is a "break even" payment to cover the tax on the medal and the payment.

[packman]

4. Remember Jim Thorpe? - How times have changed.

Made a few dollars playing baseball before the Olympics and then having his medals taken because of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe

[jberryhill]

7. The $15,000 covers the tax the athletes have to pay on the medals

This is a nothingburger.

The alternative is for the athletes to cough up the tax from other income.

[Moostache]

5. If you KNOW your team has no chance, then bonuses can be whatever you want!

For example, take the Jamaican Bobsled team or "Eddie the Eagle" ski-jumper ... you could offer them $1,000,000,000.00 for a gold medal and it would not matter at all because they were never going to win regardless.

Buy yourself a cheap insurance policy against the miracle occurring (say the 1980 US Hockey team?) and then offer away!

[sharp_stick]

6. Kazakhstan and Indonesia

don't have to write all that many checks.

US: 86 total so far
Kazakhstan: 10
Indonesia: 3

That being said, 25, 15 and 10k is pretty skimpy especially for athletes that don't stand to make anything off endorsements.

[world wide wally]

8. Why not?

[eppur_se_muova]

9. The more the money, the greater the incentive for cheating ... nt

[Taitertots]

10. It's a waste of money.

I'd rather see the government spending money on roads, schools, hospitals...

Money is finite and fungible. Every dollar they pay an athlete is just a dollar they can't put toward more important issues.

[SwampyJ]

13. They are paid by the USOC not the government.

The United States Olympic Committee is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation supported by American individuals and corporate sponsors. Unlike most other nations, the USOC does not receive direct government funding for Olympic programs (except for select Paralympic military programs).

[Taitertots]

15. I was referring to the money paid by competing nations

[SwampyJ]

17. Oh ok. Understood. (nt)

[Javaman]

11. I have no problem with this at all...

the majority of athletes, historically speaking, have had to pay for supporting themselves while training.

the athletes, many of which are gifted, do not spontaneously become good overnight. Many families (parents and extended families) expend time and money for their son, daughter, father, mother, sister, brother, to train for years. And many do this without the glory of the Olympics. They do it for hope that their family member MIGHT make the Olympics.

I had run competitively for years. And just for myself, a non-olympian, it's damn down right expensive. Why do it? why does anyone do anything? because I loved it. Is a person supposed to stop doing something because it's too expensive to train? well, I guess, all athletes and academics should just give up. (the cost of getting ones doctorate costs a small fortune). And not everyone is cut out to be a doctor. As is not everyone is cut out to be an Olympic athlete. But, there are people who are.

And for those people who are, there should be rewards, because the path to success is rarely if ever paved with gold.

We all know who the people who win the big sports, but how many of you can name the people who win the lesser known sports? Not many of you, I bet. But think of this, those people who win those lesser know sports, do not train any less harder, do not sacrifice any less for their want to be great in their chosen sport. And are we to also "fault" them for getting money for winning a medal?

99% of the athletes at the Olympics have sacrificed so much to their sport and many of them win nothing. zero, zip, zilch.

and chew on this for a little, many of the athletes, no all, but many also hold down jobs, regular jobs and academic jobs to keep their training going.

It truly astounds me how anyone could find fault with any of this.

yes, the Olympics are political, yes, they are commercial and yes, the various powers that be use the athletes as their own personal charms for their own advancement, but at the basic core of it all, it's still just the athletes who have trained very very very hard, (the likes of which is so hard to sometimes imagine) to be the best at what they do.

and what the hell is wrong with that AND get rewarded for it as well?

I can't help but think there is this odd contrarian segment here on DU that just loves hating on the Olympics and the athletes because it's the vogue thing to do.

[JI7]

12. It's because the US is NOT a poor third world country that they don't need to do this

If those countries had as many athletes and medal winners their prize money would go down also

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Shocking! You're saying Kazakhstan is a good role model, while Sweden isn't?

SELECTION OF ESTIMATED OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL BONUSES (All figures in $A)

Singapore $983,000

Indonesia $500,000

Azerbaijan $333,000

Kazakhstan $300,000

Italy $242,000

France $86,000

Russia $80,000

South Africa $47,000

USA $33,000

Germany $26,000

Canada $20,000

Australia $20,000

Papua New Guinea $8,400

Trinidad & Tobago $1000-$4000 (depending on event)

UK, Norway, Sweden, Croatia - No bonuses.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/olympics/what-australian-and-other-countries-pay-to-olympic-medal-winners/news-story/fdc88c3a27729dbbc85fb0b357787cd6

[The Straight Story]

16. When you win as many medals as the US does you spend less per medal

[Dawson Leery]

18. They should not have to pay tax on the medal.

It was awarded to them for their work. Also, the commodities markets are unstable to say the least.

With that said, their cash prize pays in part for those taxes and I do not support giving them more money.

Let the market deal with it. Let them get endorsements.

[Calculating]

19. Makes sense

American gold medal winners have a lot more sponsorship and endorsement opportunities.

[Heeeeers Johnny]

20. Kazakhstan won a medal?

Nice!

[img][/img]


I hope they played the correct national anthem this time around.

Anger as spoof Kazakhstan anthem played at medal ceremony

Kazakhstan has called the playing of a spoof of its national anthem at an international sporting event "a scandal" and demanded an investigation of the incident.

Maria Dmitrienko won a gold medal for Kazakhstan on Thursday at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait, but during the award ceremony the public address system broadcast the spoof anthem from the 2006 movie "Borat," which offended many Kazakhs by portraying the country as backward and degenerate.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilyas Omarov told the ITAR-Tass news agency the incident "is, of course, a scandal and demands a thorough investigation, which we intend to conduct.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/mar/24/spoof-anthem-kazakhstan-borat