The Briefing

• The IOC doesn’t pay athletes anything, but some home countries award handsome medal bonuses for winners
• Singapore shells out SGD$1 million ($737K) for its gold medalists—nearly 20 times what the U.S. pays for the same achievement

Which Countries Award the Highest Olympic Medal Bonus?

For many of the world’s top athletes, simply representing their country at the Olympic Games is considered an honor.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) partly reinforces this, as it doesn’t pay its participating sportspeople anything.

But for those athletes going for the gold, silver, and bronze, the sweet sense of achievement that comes with winning a medal is sometimes accompanied by a big check—though these prizes don’t come from the IOC either.

The Winners Take It All

For placing at the podium and bringing home a medal, some countries promise their athletes significant bonuses—shooting as high as a six-figure range. For winning a gold medal, athletes from Singapore can earn up to SGD$1 million, or about $737,000.

This reward is nearly 20 times the $37,500 that U.S. athletes pocket for the same achievement. However, the immense difference in payout makes sense if you consider what’s at stake. The U.S. typically dominates the leaderboard every year, and sheer numbers are a big part of this.

At Tokyo 2020, Singapore only had 23 athletes representing the city-state across 12 events. In comparison, the U.S. brought along the biggest contingent of 657 athletes participating in 44 events.

Here are the 12 countries that boast largest monetary (Read more...)