Here's what some Olympic athletes get instead of cash prizes
The International Olympic Committee doesn't award Olympians prize money for earning medals. Yet gold, silver and bronze medalists from different countries can still collect a range of rewards for outstanding performances.
Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo won two Olympic gold medals in Paris this week. As a reward for his exploits, he will also take home $350,000 in cash from his government, plus a variety of unusual freebies. Those include set of car headlights and fog lights, free wedding photography, haircuts, furniture and free food for life, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The gifts he can choose from don't end there. He's even been offered medical services: A Manila-based gastroenterologist has offered to give him a free colonoscopy, according to the report.
These unique rewards draw attention to the quirky nature of some of the gifts some Olympians receive in addition to their medals.
Individual governments and private sponsors often compensate athletes with cash, property and even more unusual prizes, like livestock. This year, for example, Olympic track and field gold medalists will win $50,000 from World Athletics, making it the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic Games, the organization announced in April.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a recent interview with CNBC that athletes deserve a share of the income they generate for the organization.
"Athletes are, in essence, the bearers of the revenues that we get," he told CNBC. "Their performances at an Olympic Games, in our own World Championships, provide world athletics with broadcast revenue from the International Olympic Committee and at a world championship level."
Additionally, through "Project Gold," run by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee," U.S. athletes get $37,500 for winning a gold medal; $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze, according to the Associated Press. France, the host of this year's Olympics, will award its gold medalists roughly $85,000 each; its silver medalists $43,000 and its bronze medalists $22,000, according to French news outlet Capital.
The Paris Olympics run through August 11. Here are how some countries reward their top performers.
Indonesia
Indonesian badminton athletes Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, who earned gold medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021, were promised five cows, a meatball restaurant and a new house, according to a Reuters report. The government also offered the pair a cash prize worth roughly $350,000.
Additionally, Rahayu, from Sulawesi island, was offered five cows and a house by the district's head, according to the report.
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Sports Institute also gives its athletes prize money, based on how they place in competitions. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, gold medalists in individual events from Hong Kong will get $768,000.
Malaysia
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh in February said national athletes who make the Olympic podium will be rewarded with a foreign-made car, sponsored by an unnamed automaker, according to a report from Malay Mail, a Malaysian news outlet.
The nation's Road To Gold (RTG) Committee received an offer from a car company that said it will provide athletes with its vehicles, the publication reported.
"We also want to give a chance to local brands (to reward Olympics medallists) because now only a foreign brand has made the offer," Yeoh added, according to the report.
Republic of Kazakhstan
If an athlete from the Republic of Kazakhstan places in their event, the Republic's Ministry of Culture and Sports gives them an apartment. Its size depends on how well the prize winner does in their event.
Gold medalists get three-room apartments; silver medalists get two-room apartments; and bronze medalists get one-room apartments.
Singapore
Singapore's National Olympic Council also has its own "incentive scheme" to reward Olympic medalists. It pays Olympic gold medalists in individual sports $1,000,000 Singapore dollars, equal to about $744,000 U.S. dollars. Silver medalists earn roughly $372,000, and bronze medalists earn about $186,000.
The governments of Italy, Morocco, Estonia and other nations have also promised cash prizes for medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
See an updated medal count for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in the tracker below.
