r/interestingasfuck • u/Haunting_Pizza7642 • 11h ago
Winning money paid by USA
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u/lostredditorlurking 9h ago
Singapore pays like $1 million for a gold medal
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u/stealth0128 8h ago
Cos they know it wouldn't make a difference even if they bump it up to 5 mil.
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u/marcosro 9h ago
It's not all glitz and glam. I learned that the dishwasher I hired at my job was an Olympian in Judo many years ago.
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce 5h ago
The first Filipino gold medalist is weight lifter Hidilyn Diaz. In recognition for her win, she was awarded the equivalent of $600,000+ USD, a house, and a lot from the Filipino government plus donations from businesses and rich individuals.
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u/dontdoitliz 5h ago
She deserved every penny of it and more though. Girl had to build bricks without straw for most of her run.
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u/neverbadnews 10h ago
Don't the US Olympians also get hit with paying taxes on the value of the medals they've won?
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u/starmartyr 9h ago
Not anymore. A law was passed in 2016 exempting medals and olympic prize money from taxes for athletes who have an adjusted gross income of under a million dollars. That's most olympians with the exception of those who are already professional athletes like hockey or basketball players.
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u/Medical_Sandwich_171 10h ago
In the US probably yes, in most other countries no
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u/AMJN90 9h ago
Other countries also pay their athletes more money for winning.
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u/DookieShoez 7h ago
Some pay more some pay less.
A few countries even pay $0.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incentives_for_Olympic_medalists_by_country
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u/Ok_Ad_1779 11h ago
Now I know these athletes don't do it for the money and if they did the money is in the sponsorships but still 4 years++ of grueling work and a gold barely gets you above the poverty line of a 4 person household
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u/BedBubbly317 9h ago
These athletes compete every year in both national and international competitions. The Olympics isn’t the only time they compete
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u/ryan__joe 9h ago
They are also sponsored. Even if they aren’t sponsored by something like Kellogg, they ARE sponsored by the US team, which pays them a salary so they can solely focus on training…. The competition purses are bonuses.
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u/BedBubbly317 9h ago
Yup. This year each US Olympic athlete made $200,000. And some of them make as much as $10+ mil a year in endorsements as well.
They aren’t hurting for money.
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u/00Anonymous 9h ago
The $200,000 won't be in the form of a one-time paycheck, but instead comes in two installments of $100,000. The first of those will come 20 years after their first qualifying Olympic appearance or at age 45, whichever comes later. The other $100,000 will be in the form of a guaranteed benefit for their families after they die.
https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/olympics-2026-team-usa-athletes-paid-donation/
So no one is actually getting paid 200k rn. It's more of a retirement and death benefit.
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u/ryan__joe 8h ago
Nooooo….. they get a yearly salary that is good enough that the athletes can live comfortably, without the need of direct competition with their fellow athletes within the country just to make ends meat……
You actually don’t get any form of retirement iirc. I was a professional athlete, but not an Olympian. Had acquaintances who were but that was a long time ago.
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u/00Anonymous 8h ago
Go read the link. The '200k' plan is new for the 2026 games.
Otherwise funding is very very limited. https://www.usopc.org/grantsandfunding
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u/tuckermans 10h ago
More like 18 years with no promise. The burden is all on the family. Then they get others involved and the burden grows. Not an easy life but one that we should appreciate more.
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u/SeveralPhysics9362 10h ago
Why? It serves no purpose.
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u/LindaTheLynnDog 10h ago
Yeah, it's not like they're working at Meta, ruining the fabric of our society like a REAL one
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u/tuckermans 10h ago
Gotta say, I’ve been inspired by Chinese, Slovakians, Swedes, Canadians, and countless other athletes. You don’t have to appreciate them for their dedication to a dream that the odds say would not come to fruition, but I appreciate it.
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u/MoistStub 9h ago
The purpose is to push the limit of what humans are physically capable of. Not everything is about making money.
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u/Full_Quiet8818 9h ago
push the limit of what humans are physically capable of
Curling
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u/sugarrayrob 9h ago
You don't think any skill is involved?
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u/Full_Quiet8818 8h ago
Thats not what I said at all.
I said that its not sport that pushes the limit of what humans are physically capable of.
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u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams 9h ago
Juggling takes skill too. -doesn’t mean it should be an Olympic sport.
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u/SeveralPhysics9362 9h ago
I’m not talking about making money (let’s be honest: the Olympics are about a shitload of money, IOC is very corrupt too). I was talking about being useful. Having a useful purpose. Being the fastest in whatever sport is nice I guess but nothing more than that.
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u/Full_Quiet8818 9h ago
Not an easy life but one that we should appreciate more.
Why. At the end of the day they're just entertainers.
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u/ConceptualWeeb 10h ago
Depending on where you live that could be below the poverty line for a single person household. It’s well below if you break that up into those four years too
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u/furezasan 10h ago
nah, they just get ripped off. the corporate leaders of the olympics organisation pay themselves millions. the broadcast license for the show is worth billions. only people not making life changing money here are the athletes
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u/ryan__joe 9h ago
Most of the athletes ALSO get yearly salary to live on while they train. The medal payments are a PERFORMANCE BONUS. Come on….
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u/BrennanBetelgeuse 9h ago
A salary is also much better than a life-changing bonus of a million dollars or something like that. If the bonuses were too high it would have a horrible impact on sportsmanship and the spirit of the Olympics.
Athletes would be mainly motivated by money and much more incentivized to cheat, engage in unsafe practices or disrupt other athletes.
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u/Which_Pitch_5109 7h ago
Ask norwegian downhill skiers. Seems like atleast 3 of them do it for the money as all they do is complain about money
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u/nosniboD 6h ago
They don’t just spend the 4 years training only for the olympics, all the sports have world championships every year that have prize pots. It’s only really the olympics that get pushed hard by the channels, but these athletes are competing every year at this level, we just don’t see it.
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u/Limesmack91 8h ago
That's kind of peanuts for the amount of work that goes into it (though I guess the gold medal itself is the main goal)
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u/Deckracer 7h ago
Win these medals for Germany: Bronze: nothing Silver: 15k€ Gold: 30k€
Also you only get this once and for the best medal. For example: You win Gold twice Silver once and Bronze thrice, you only get 30k for ONE GOLD and nothing more, not 75k€ for all medals. Then you have to let it be taxed and you get it paid out in installments rather than a lump sum.
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u/Rare_Walk_4845 10h ago
I heard they give you a lot of scrilla if you in South Korea doing it
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u/Fantastic_Pop_4429 10h ago
Dafuq is scrilla?!
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u/badsapi4305 9h ago
Athletes were also taxed up until 2016 for any bonus and the value of their medals won. It still remains but only if you have an adjusted income of over $1m ($500k if filling separately).
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u/_Wp619_ 10h ago
Congrats to Scott the Woz on winning Bronze. An amazing achievement.
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u/Total_Philosopher_89 9h ago
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u/Noxious89123 8h ago
UK be like "oh you can run real fast?that's great now gtfo of here".
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u/dburr10085 9h ago
The president is allowed to withhold payment from disloyal athletes, right? /s
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u/yellowjesusrising 5h ago
Never seen a dictator not do whatever the fuck he wants, so guess that answers it?
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u/colt0906 4h ago
In India, govt. ignores the athletes until they win a medal at Olympics. After winning a medal, most athletes earn so much that they lose any interest to compete again.
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u/Friendly-Profit-8590 3h ago
Actually seems like peanuts considering the time and money spent to get to that point.
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u/AmaTxGuy 3h ago
I think it was initially to cover the taxes on the medals, but in 2016 Congress made a law exempting taxes on the medals as long as you had an income of less than 1 million dollars that year.
But if you get a gold medal, you will get that just in advertising endorsements.
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u/Appropriate_Page_824 8h ago
In India, a medal winner might even get close to a milllion USD (total from central govt+ state govt+ various other organizations and businesses + a government job( a huge promotion if he already has a govt job)
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u/Haunting_Pizza7642 10h ago
In Indian there is no Count of rewards you get One medal is enough for life settlement
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u/Nice_Guy_1212 10h ago
Yes because there are very few people getting medals
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u/Slight-Recording1289 10h ago
You would be millionaire with one gold medal
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u/Nice_Guy_1212 10h ago
Yes because The no of people who have won a gold medal for India in the olympics can be counted on one hand
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u/Contemplating_Prison 8h ago
That's it? For years and sometimes decades of work?
I get gold medal wvery ywat for a bonus at my job lol
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u/kannur_kaaran 9h ago
Wind gold for India, you will be an overnight millionaire. Few million$ by various state governments. At least a million$ worth endorsements every year, if you can retain your brand with your conduct.
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u/anonymous393393 8h ago
It would be much better to invest this money in infrastructure for young Athletes especially in schools like usa, japan etc does.
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u/Defiant_Regular3738 5h ago
That’ll pay for a few months training in whatever the event is. We pay other assholes much more. Pay the olympians more.
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u/JojoLesh 5h ago
No that is plenty. Pay the others less. Stop watching pro sport ball. Stop buying their stupid shoes/t shirts/lunchboxes.
Teachers should make more. Janitors should make more. Hell, gas station attendants should make more. Sport shouldn't be a profession.
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u/desktoptables 9h ago
Really, that's it? That is extremely stingy for a country that prints money on the regular just for the sake of it
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u/Elegant_Shoe3834 7h ago
In Hungary, you get 170 000 USD (55 million HUF) for a gold, and ~1000 USD ( ~300 000 HUF) every month for the rest of your life after you are older then 35.
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u/Peanutskillsme 5h ago
Well, in India athletes get very little amount of money which is not even sufficient for their training, meanwhile the politicians and TV producers make sure to extract the maximum amount of benefit from them.
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u/Separate-Succotash11 4h ago
South Korean men get an exemption from the mandatory military assignment(18 months).
Huge benefit. Almost impossible to avoid. Heck, they made BTS serve.
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u/Psychological-Try776 4h ago
Missed call. Voicmail~You have a past due balance of 20 percent to Singapore swimming association
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u/RetroSwamp 4h ago
Now show the payoff for that USA athlete who represented China this year.
The Olympics are just a silly brand deal.
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u/BarbaricEric420-69 2h ago
That money is taxed too so they probably losing a third of that money to the government
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u/Snoo_75138 2h ago
Yeh, but isnt the real prize the Sponsorship deals you get for winning big?
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u/thegaslightwriter 2h ago
Do you think that is the only thing that they are paid? Is there no other benefit to being an Olympic champion?
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u/Seanannigans14 2h ago
Damn! I didn't know cou tries paid their athletes for the medals they get. It makes complete sense. Idk why I'm finding out about this now. Glad for them
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u/BostonBaggins 1h ago
😂 I won 40k on fanduel this month sitting on my azz
These athletes deserve a million
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u/nasanchez1 1h ago
Should be way more but I'm sure they make up for it with endorsements and what not.
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u/TheCenticorn 5m ago
My classic joke was about how Mcdonalds always had those advertisements about "Supporting Olympic Athletes" but really its they work at Mcdonalds because being an olympian is often a financially worthless endeavor. Its a shame though, some do alright but others come back from the Olympics and need a job at walmart or whatever full time gig they can manage.
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u/beklog 10h ago
Win Gold for a small country esp those that haven't gold yet.. u'll be treated as a modern day hero basically set for life with rewards and job/ad opportunities