How Much Do Olympic Athletes Make?

Olympic medals mean cash prizes for many athletes. The prizes are not given by the International Olympic Committee, but instead by sponsoring countries. There are no rules regarding how much a country can give its athletes, so the amounts are very different. The US pays its athletes a cash bonus of $25,000 for each gold medal, $15,000 for each silver medal, and $10,000 for each bronze medal. Learn more about usain bolt net worth.

The US ranks pretty low as far as cash prizes to Olympians go, but it isn't at the bottom. The UK, for example, doesn't offer any cash prizes. Italian athletes, on the other hand, make more than any other Olympians, with a cash prize of more than $182,000 per gold medal.

The US does not sponsor (financially) its athletes, leaving that responsibility, instead, to the US Olympic Committee, a private, non-profit organization. The International Olympic Committee also gives US athletes grant money, as they do for all participants. For the US teams, the rest of their funding has to come from alternate sources, like fundraisers and donations. This is in contrast to other countries, like the UK, that pay their athletes to train and compete.

Without much government support, Olympians must finance their training in other ways. Some of their income comes from prize money from competitions. Some athletes are also sponsored by companies or individuals, or get paid to endorse products. Obviously, those opportunities are limited and some sports are more likely than others to earn their competitors fame and fortune. For the rest, though, employment outside of their sport is necessary.

Take, for example, track and field athletes. Only 50 percent of track and field athletes (who are ranked in the top 10 for their particular sport) make more than $15,000 a year. For these athletes, winning medals not only means prize money, but the chance to earn more from endorsements and sponsors, as well. And track and field athletes are pretty visible and often approached by sponsors. Female Olympic rowers make a monthly stipend from the Olympic committee of 400 dollars and most work other jobs while training.

That said, there are some multimillion-dollar Olympians. Some Olympians come into the games as superstars. The United States basketball team, for example, is full of NBA stars whose net worth is much higher than that of most Olympians. Two famous, Olympic tennis players both made the lists of highest paid professional athletes (by gender) last year.

For some Olympians, the gold medals came first. A record-setting, Olympic swimmer has a net worth of 45 million dollars, thanks to his endorsement deals. A former record-setting Olympic swimmer has an estimated net worth of $20 million. Three time Olympic beach volleyball players are both worth around $4 million. As you can see, it pays to be an athlete. For more details about shaquille o'neal net worth, click the link.