Olympic medals bring to those who win them glory, fame and the joy of the crowning achievement of their work as an athlete. Depending on the athlete's country of origin, they can also lead to a more than moderate increase in the bank account. Some countries, in fact, pay for the Olympic victory with very high prizes, others with twenty-year salaries guaranteed to the winners, still others, including Great Britain, Norway and Sweden, do not pay out even a single euro of prize money.
Italy is one of the most munificent countries with its athletes: a gold medal is worth 150 euros (before taxes) from Coni, a silver is worth 75, while for bronze it stops at 50. Much more than the 50 thousand for gold offered by France and the 20 thousand paid by Germany.
At the top of the ranking are several Asian countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia, which ensure their medalists more than 500 thousand euros in twenty years (and in gold tokens). Or like Singapore, which offers a prize of 740 dollars for a piece of gold. An additional motivation that doesn't seem to serve much, given that, at the moment, no Singaporean athlete has climbed to the top step of the podium.
Very rich prizes are also offered by Taiwan (640 thousand dollars for gold, 223 thousand for the silver medal and 160 thousand for bronze), Azerbaijan (250 thousand for gold, 124 thousand and 62 thousand for silver and bronze) and the Philippines (215 thousand dollars for gold, 107 for silver and 43 for bronze), while China pays "only" 25 euros for a gold medal, but showers the athlete and his family with gifts and benefits such as apartments or cars.
Canada and the United States also offer low prizes: from 25 euros and more, to be taxed as income received abroad, depending on the athlete's income. In any case, to make money, athletes today can always count on sponsors and an Olympic victory, from that point of view, can multiply their value exponentially.
