The tradition of financially rewarding the winners of the Olympic Games dates back to the founding of competitions in Ancient Greece, when victory in competitions provided the athlete with a comfortable future life.
What are the current fees for Olympic champions, who do they receive them from, and how much do athletes’ victories at the Games “cost” the state? Soviet sport found out.
The budget for organizing and holding competitions costs the “host” country a lot of money. Thus, the budget of the last summer Olympics in Rio amounted to 10 billion dollars, and this at a time when the country was rocked by a severe economic crisis.
For comparison, this event cost Barcelona 7 billion in 1992, Athens 11 billion, and London spent almost 15 billion dollars. And the budget for the Sochi Winter Olympics, taking into account the preparation of infrastructure, according to official data, cost Russia almost 30 billion dollars! At the same time, the Anti-Corruption Fund mentioned almost 1.5 trillion rubles, SS reports.
Investments in the organization and holding of the Olympic Games do not end with financial costs. Each country provides certain amounts for financial incentives for its champions.
Thus, Taiwan allocates 628 thousand dollars for a gold medal, and Italy provides a more “modest” fee - 168 thousand dollars. Although there are exceptions, some countries do not reward their winners as a matter of principle. For example, the United States, which practically does not participate financially in rewarding athletes. Government fees are replaced by the existing sponsorship system in the country.
So, how do they reward their Olympic champions in Russia?
To begin with, the winner receives gifts from the state. Thus, each gold medalist of the 2014 Sochi Olympics was thanked with 4 million rubles. The price of “silver” is 2.7 million rubles, and “Bronze” is 1.7.
It is noteworthy that Russia generally took an unprecedented step: when the doping scandal broke out, the country decided to reward even those athletes who were not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio. Thus, Elena Isinbaeva and Sergei Shubenkov received 4 million rubles each. In addition to them, 42 more people were on the list for payments, SS reports.
In addition to fees from the country, Olympians receive awards from the Russian Olympians Support Fund, which includes a number of major billionaire philanthropists such as Oleg Deripaska, Roman Abramovich, Vladimir Lisin, Mikhail Prokhorov and Alisher Usmanov. According to official data, membership fees amount to 80 million rubles per person.
This fund allocates money not only for the development of sports programs, but also for bonuses for Olympic medalists. As a rule, rewards are expressed in gifts such as cars and apartments. In 2010 and 2012, the presentation was new Audi, in 2014 - Mercedes SUVs, and in 2016 - BMW.
However, not all athletes keep such expensive gifts. Often champions put up for sale the cars presented to them, indicating in the advertisement that the brand new foreign car was received for victories in the Olympic Games. Thus, one of the competition winners sold her car for 4.670 million rubles.
The gifts for the Olympians do not end there. Cash prizes also await the winners upon arrival in their home region, where the amount of remuneration varies depending on the “wealth” of the region. Thus, the gold medalist of the Rio Games, cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya, received a fee from the Leningrad region in the amount of 1.5 million rubles.
Payments to medalists of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games by region in US dollars. Data from open Internet sources.
In 2016, the Krasnodar region decided to reward not only medalists, but also all participants representing the region at the Games. The range of payments varied from 2 million rubles for “gold” and up to 250 “consolation” thousand rubles for participation.
Omsk gymnast Vera Biryukova received financial incentives from the regional authorities in the amount of three million rubles for gold in the team all-around in rhythmic gymnastics.
The financial incentives don't end there. More modest fees go to the winners from the Sports Training Center. There, medals are valued as follows: “gold” in all sports “costs” 200 thousand rubles, “silver” - 100, bronze - 60 thousand rubles.
Not only that, graduates of the Sports Training Center who win the Olympic Games are entitled to a lifetime state scholarship in the amount of 32 thousand rubles.
Not all sports organizations are supported by government subsidies. However, in private federations, financial incentives look more interesting to athletes.
Thus, according to SS, Sophia the Great received one million euros for winning the Olympic Games in Rio, Yana Yegoryan - 1.2 million euros.
If we add up all the material incentives Yana Yegoryan received for two gold medals, then her income will be 16.7 million rubles.
It is also quite interesting how athletes live in the periods between the Games. At this time, future Olympic participants continue to take part in competitions and training camps.
At the same time, athletes are fully paid for accommodation, travel to the training camp, four meals a day and are given a daily allowance in the currency of the country where they are located. In fact, the athlete does not need to spend personal funds on himself. And the salary of the future member of the Russian national team, as reported by SS, is about 300 thousand rubles a month, and somewhere higher, especially if you take into account sponsorship investments.
But sponsorships are an impressive bonus to all government fees. Thus, speed skater Viktor An, after winning the Sochi Games, received a contract with Samsung, which brought the athlete, according to SS, up to 200 thousand dollars. And in 2008, the champion of the Beijing Games, Elena Isinbayeva, received a sponsorship contract of 1.5 million euros.
So, despite the impressive income of Olympians from sponsorship contracts, Russia continues to invest funds in athletes that are sensitive to the country’s budget. Russia spent $2,374,000 on prize money for its athletes. Only Italy and Japan cost larger sums of money for the victories of the Olympians.
Russian champions and Olympic medalists in Brazil received state awards and received cars as a gift. A reception in their honor was held in the Kremlin, and they received congratulations personally from the president. NTV talks about what else they give to Olympic champions in Russia and other countries.
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What do they give our champions?
Champions and medalists of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The gold medalists received the BMW X6, the silver medalists received the BMW X5, and the bronze medalists received the BMW X3. All cars are Russian assembled.
In addition, every Russian athlete who won a medal at the Games in Brazil will receive from the state cash bonuses, orders (for first place) and medals “For Services to the Fatherland” of the 1st degree. Each athlete receives 4 million rubles for gold, 2.7 million rubles for silver, and 1.7 million rubles for bronze. The amount of prize money remained the same as at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.
Also, the authorities of many regions, whose interests were represented by athletes at the Olympics, prepared their own material incentives.
For example, Olympic champion Beslan Mudranov already received a foreign car from Kabardino-Balkaria. The head of the republic noted that it was of enormous importance for stimulating the entire Russian team in conditions of unprecedented pressure on our country in the history of the Olympic movement. The champion was given a certificate for a four-room apartment in the center of Nalchik and the keys to a brand new foreign car.
Rio Games judo champion Khasan Khalmurzaev also received an apartment as a gift from the mayor of the capital of Ingushetia. An athlete in a fight with American Travis Stevenson.
It must be said that not all countries reward their athletes in some way. For example, Croatia, Sweden and Great Britain do not pay at all for victories at the Olympic Games.
Olympic BMW: what they give to the winners and medalists of the Games
"SE" calculated how much the Russian champions and medalists of Pyeongchang will earn.
The first weeks after the Olympics are the time for the distribution of elephants. Today, Russian champions and prize-winners of the Games in Pyeongchang are going to a gala reception with the President of the country, after which they will be presented with gift foreign cars from the Russian Olympians Support Fund.
However, the matter will not be limited to cars alone. As is known, according to the decree of the Russian government, the Russian Ministry of Sports will pay special bonuses to Olympic medalists - 4 million rubles for gold, 2.5 million for silver and 1.7 million for bronze.
5 MILLION FOR KOLYADA
In addition, the winners of the Games traditionally receive payments from the regions they represent. Thus, the public was excited by the news that the figure skater, who in the eyes of fans had become one of the main Russian disappointments of Pyeongchang, would receive 2.5 million rubles from the government of St. Petersburg for a silver medal in the team tournament.
15 hockey players who won gold in Korea as part of the Russian national team will receive 5 million rubles each. 600 thousand rubles will be paid to five hockey players of the Russian women's team representing St. Petersburg, which took fourth place at the Olympics.
If we sum up the federal and regional bonuses, then Kolyada will earn 5 million rubles, and SKA hockey players will earn 9 million each.
MOSCOW AND TATARSTAN - AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
Medal-winning athletes representing Moscow will receive bonuses from the city comparable to federal ones - that is, 4 million rubles for gold, 2.5 million for silver and 1.7 million for bronze. We are talking about skaters, and,; skier, freestyle skier; six hockey players, including the scorer of the winning goal in the final against Germany.
Thus, one of the main heroines of the Olympics Zagitova, who became the champion in the individual tournament and the silver medalist in the team tournament, will receive a total of 13 million rubles.
As for the Moscow region, the freestyle skier representing this region, who won bronze in ski acrobatics in Pyeongchang, will receive 500 thousand rubles (in addition to this, Burov also represents the Yaroslavl region).
In addition to Moscow, another region has established awards for its winners that are equal to the federal ones - Tatarstan. Skiers (silver and bronze), (bronze), and figure skaters (silver) will receive payments. Thus, Tarasova and Morozov, representing Moscow and Tatarstan, will earn a total of 7.5 million each.
Half of the athlete’s prize money will be received by the coaches who trained him. In addition, medalists and their coaches will receive monthly payments ranging from 10 to 90 thousand rubles for a year after achieving a high result.
APARTMENTS FOR HEROES
Skiers (three silver and bronze) and (two silver and bronze) received cash bonuses in the amount of 5 million rubles from the governor of the Tyumen region Vladimir Yakushov. In addition, the athletes were awarded certificates for two apartments in Tyumen.
In addition, Bolshunov, who is a native of the Bryansk region and, in addition to Tyumen, representing this region, will receive from her a payment in the amount of 2.5 million rubles - 700 thousand for each silver and 400 thousand for a bronze medal.
Thus, in total Bolshunov will earn 16.7 million rubles in bonuses.
Skeletonist (silver) will receive two million rubles from the authorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. His coach is entitled to the same amount Anatoly Chelyshev.
A Ufa resident who won bronze in short track speed skating in Pyeongchang will receive 500 thousand rubles from the government of Bashkortostan.
The skier (bronze) and speed skater (bronze) representing the Nizhny Novgorod region will receive bonuses in the amount of 300 thousand rubles from the regional authorities.
At the same time, you need to understand that all amounts are far from final. Athletes can receive bonuses from sports societies, private philanthropists and foundations, and so on.
Taking part in the Olympics and winning gold for an athlete is not only the main goal of a career, but also the greatest achievement in life. It’s unlikely that anyone goes into professional sports after finding out how much money you can get for gold and other medals. However, this is not an idle question and really worries many. The 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang in South Korea recently concluded. Let's try to figure out how much Russian Olympians received for their medals.
Special monetary rewards for Olympians are provided from the federal budget, there are special bonuses from sports funds and the federation, and monetary rewards are also paid from the regions. The government bonus remains the largest in size; in 2018, its size did not increase and remained at the level of previous years.
How much do Olympians get paid for medals in Russia?
Congratulations and awards for the champions of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang took place in the Kremlin on February 28, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally congratulated and presented awards to the 46 Olympians who took prizes. Traditionally, special cash prizes are provided for receiving Olympic medals in Russia.
The amount of monetary reward that is paid for gold, silver and bronze medals is officially established and has not changed for many years. For “gold” Olympians are paid 4 million rubles, for “silver” compensation in the amount of 2.5 million rubles is provided, and for “bronze” 1.7 million rubles. This is exactly what each Olympian who won a medal received, performing individually or as part of a team. Exactly the same prizes were paid to athletes for the last Olympics. Despite the fact that the ruble exchange rate fell sharply, the amount of monetary reward remained unchanged. For a gold medal they still pay 4,000,000 rubles. Therefore, among European countries, Russia is far from the first place in terms of the amount of payments to Olympians, because compensation is calculated in dollars.
If we talk about the amount of monetary remuneration that accrues to a particular athlete, then based on the results of the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, the following rating was formed. Assessing all official payments, we can say that figure skater Alina Zagitova and skier Alexander Bolshunov will receive the largest bonuses. In total, each of them will receive approximately 15 million rubles. Don’t forget about the Olympic coaches; they are also entitled to half of the bonus payments.
How much did the 2018 Olympians receive?
- 9.2 million rubles— that’s how much skier Alexander Bolshunov received. This is the largest monetary compensation from the state. In Pyeongchang, he won four medals at once: three of them were silver and one bronze.
- 6.7 million rubles— received skier Denis Spitsov, for one bronze and two silver medals.
- 6.5 million rubles— will receive Alina Zagitova, who won gold and silver in figure skating.
- 5 million rubles- this is how much Evgenia Medvedev will receive as a reward. She won 2 silver medals in figure skating.
- 4.2 million rubles— that’s what skier Andrey Larkov will receive for silver and bronze medals in Pyeongchang.
- 4 million rubles— that’s exactly how much each Red Machine hockey player will receive for winning the 2018 Olympics.
In total, 17 Olympians will receive monetary rewards from the federal budget. Among them, payments are provided for 2 “gold” medals, 6 “silver” and 9 bronze medals. The payment of monetary rewards has been revised for both individual athletes and Olympians who participate in team competitions.
Cash rewards from the regions
All athletes of the Russian team who compete at the Olympics represent a certain sports school in their region. Therefore, the local budget also provides for the payment of material compensation to Olympic champions. Raising an Olympic champion is a real pride for the region and the city. Therefore, “gold” medals never go unnoticed. Governors often congratulate Olympians, presenting not only cash prizes, but also apartments.
In 2018, the leaders in terms of the amount of material payments to Olympians are two regions: Moscow and Tatarstan. The following athletes will receive remuneration from the regional budget: Alina Zagitova, Sergei Ridzik, Evgenia Medvedeva, Natalya Nepryaeva and others.
The Tyumen region gave skiers Alexander Bolshunov and Denis Spitsov an apartment as a reward for their medals. St. Petersburg is not far behind: figure skater Mikhail Kolyada will be paid a reward of 2,500,000 rubles. Also 600,000 rubles. 5 hockey players of the women's team will receive bonuses.
In addition to cash payments, fame and universal recognition, special gifts await our champions - BMW cars. This is not only an expensive and necessary, but also a very prestigious gift. What kind of cars were bought as a gift to the Olympians in 2018?
How many cars did the Olympians receive?
Giving cars to Olympic champions is a long-standing tradition that has been going on for several years. In 2018, all Olympians were given BMW cars. Valuable gifts are given by the Russian Olympians Support Fund. The keys to the cars were personally presented by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 
For the gold medal, the champions received a BMW X5 xDrive30d, for the silver medal they received a BMW X4 xDrive30d, and the bronze medalists received a BMW X4 xDrive20d. Literally the next day, an advertisement appeared on the popular Avito service for the sale of one of the prize cars. Some time later it turned out that some Olympians decided to sell gifts. For example, swimmer Yulia Efimova explained that she already has her own car.
Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva, who won silver at the Olympics, will not be able to get behind the wheel of a car for now, since, according to her, she does not have a driver’s license.
How much do Olympic champions earn in other countries?
It is customary to give gifts and monetary compensation to Olympic champions all over the world, and not just in Russia. This year, Kazakhstan took the lead in terms of bonus payments. For gold, he offered athletes a payment of 215 thousand dollars, and for silver, monetary compensation of 125 thousand dollars.
For example, in neighboring Belarus, Olympic champions can receive twice as much for their medals as in Russia. In Belarus, a reward of $150,000 is provided for a gold medal, $75 for a silver medal, and $50,000 for a bronze medal.
European countries also distinguished themselves: Italy gives its champions $150,000, Germany will pay the winners prizes ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. Norway, which became the leader at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, will not pay for its champion. All money in the country goes to maintaining and developing sports among young people.
Norway is not the only country that does not pay Olympians. Countries such as the UK and Sweden also do not pay cash awards to their Olympians. Experience shows that the size of the remuneration does not always affect the final result. After all, for the most part, becoming an Olympic champion is a matter of honor for every athlete.
The prize fund for the winning athletes is determined by the national sports federations.
Generous awards in EU countries
Among EU countries where bonuses are considered generous, Italy leads. For the first place on the podium, the athlete receives 150,000 euros after the games; over the next four years, an additional 30,000 is transferred to his account annually. For silver and bronze, there are similar agreements with slightly less money, the website “svaboda.org” reports.
For the gold medal, the Latvians have a prize of 140 thousand euros, and the Lithuanians - 115,800 and a car.
The Bulgarian champions can count on 127,000 euros for the current games. At the last Winter Olympics, its gold medalist received 400 thousand euros.
Polish champions are paid 50,000 euros. This amount is not taxed. In addition, after reaching the age of 40, gold Olympians receive a monthly lifetime pension of 620 euros. For comparison: the average salary in the country is 1000 euros gross.
Austrian winners can expect to receive a collection of valuable coins - worth €17,000 and €13,000 for gold and silver medalists respectively.
According to German publications, the winner of the German Olympic team receives 20,000 euros as bonuses, the silver medalist – 15,000, the bronze – 10,000. Small bonuses are given to athletes who take no lower than seventh place. The rest are given so-called social packages instead of money - vouchers for sports equipment or visits to the dentist.
Olympic champions from the Netherlands are given 25,500 only for their first gold. The second or third awards are valued at 16,830 and 8,415 euros respectively.
Bonuses for champions from the former USSR
Russian Olympians, whose team started the Games under a neutral flag as a result of a doping scandal, will also receive bonuses from their government if they win. For example, for gold an athlete will be given about 56,300 euros. The Olympic champion will also receive a luxury car. True, after the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, one such car was put up for sale on the Internet within a day.
In Belarus, an athlete is paid about 133,000 euros for an Olympic gold medal, two times less for silver and three times less for bronze. A bonus for Olympians is that the state covers the full cost of preparing for the Games, and gold medalists can also count on an Olympic scholarship, which is paid for 4 years. During the previous games, Belarus was among the top 10 countries with the highest bonuses for winners and was in sixth place, above Ukraine and Russia.
Azerbaijan gives the largest bonuses among post-Soviet countries to its Olympic champions. For “gold” – 410,000 euros, for “silver” – 206,000 and for “bronze” – about 105 thousand.
North Korean millions and Swedish “nothing but glory”
The native country will pay a million for gold in Pyeongchang, mined by the winner from North Korea, reports the website “svaboda.org” with reference to the Austrian publication Kurier. Of course, not dollars, but won, that is, 747 euros. Perhaps a big incentive will be that all North Korean athletes who won gold in Pyeongchang will be exempt from military duty.
The Swedes do not have any bonuses for Olympic gold. In relation to the national team of this country, the principle applies: nothing but glory. Norwegian medalists also do not receive money for winning. However, current winners have the opportunity to receive a sports scholarship in the amount of 12,000 euros for the next year. If the Olympic star's income is more than 50,000, the amount of the scholarship is reduced.
How much does gold cost?
As for the real cost of Olympic medals, according to information posted on Swiss sports resources, the last Olympic medals that were made of pure gold were awarded at the Olympic Games in 1912. Gold medals at the South Korean Olympics weigh 586 grams. By default it should contain six grams of gold. Everything else (99.9%) is silver. The second most expensive - silver medals - weigh 580 grams. They are also 99.9% silver but not gold plated. Olympic bronze weighs just 493 grams and is made of 90% copper and 10% zinc.
The price of the Olympic medal depends on the prices of gold and silver. Now it is about 460 euros, writes
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