Something for the weekend: Most people have been glued to their televisions watching the Paris 2024 Olympics for the past few days, marvelling at the talent of the athletes. It turns out that some of them don’t just come home with medals, but with special bonuses as well!
According to a July 2024 report by Forbes, two of the countries that award the biggest medal bonuses are Hong Kong and Israel. Gold medalists from Hong Kong receive bonuses of up to $768,000 (£600,522), while those who make fourth place get $100,000 (£78,193) and fifth through to eighth place $50,000 (£39,096).
Individual Israeli athletes receive $275,000 (£215,030) for gold, $192,000 (£150,130) for silver and $137,000 (£107,124) for bronze medals. Those in partner and team sports also receive similar cash prizes divided among their groups.
Italian athletes who win a solo gold medal, or are on a gold-winning team, receive $196,000 (£153,258), while silver and bronze winners are rewarded $98,000 (£76,629) and $65,000 (£50,825), respectively. On the other hand, American Olympians who win gold take home a $37,500 (£29,322) bonus.
Cash prizes are not the only form of compensation for athletes, according to the Forbes report. In Poland, gold medalists receive an $82,000 (£64,118) bonus, while every medal winner may receive one of the following options: investment grade diamonds, holiday vouchers, a painting by a Polish artist and an apartment in Warsaw.
Serbia, Bulgaria and Malaysia give their Olympians lifelong payments, with athletes from the latter earning between $400 (£312.77) and $1,100 (£860.12) a month. Kosovo, Chile and Estonia give monthly payouts to their winning athletes but for a shorter amount of time, while Lithuanian medalists can receive up to $182,000 (£142,311) as well as having their rent paid after they retire.
These sound like great incentives and rewards to us at Employee Benefits! Congratulations to every athlete taking part in this year’s Olympics.
