how much do russian olympic athletes get paid how much do russian olympic athletes get paid

Runner Brandon Hudgins has lived on $15,000 to $18,000 a year since 2011. Just like a game show or the lottery, the winnings on Olympic medals are . That said, those at the Phelps level have to send a good chunk of their payouts right back to Uncle Sam.) That money is on top of the grants and benefits like health insurance that are more widely available to Team USA athletes, all of it paid by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which fundraises through a nonprofit foundation and does not receive federal funding. Not every country offers financial compensation explicitly for medal winners. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in Olympic history, but the athletes also look forward to the cash prize that comes with it. Russian athletes who won gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics have each been rewarded with a Mercedes GL-Class SUV worth $146,500. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in Olympic history, but the athletes also look forward to the cash prize that comes with it. The Portuguese government, for instance, will pay about $56,000 per gold medal, plus about $17,000 for a record. As a physical education teacher, he uses the experience to teach students perseverance. Narrator: Coaches can cost more than $100 an hour. NT$20,000,000, NT$7,000,000, NT$5,000,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. Kosovo is a newcomer to the Olympic scene, competing at just its second Winter Games with a contingent of two skiers, Kiana Kryeziu and Albin Tahiri. For athletes who win multiple Olympic gold medals, they entitled S$1 million only for the first individual gold medal won at the Games.[23]. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. THB12,000,000, THB7,200,000, THB4,800,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. Everything was shut down. UK Olympic medallists have . And with the Games about to start, you can expect to see plenty more popping up on Instagram and Twitter. Per NBC, U.S. Olympic winners get $37,500 for winning gold, $22,500 for winning silver, and $15,000 for winning bronze. Eighth place is worth 153 BSB, or about $7,000. S$1,000,000, S$500,000, S$250,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. Not only will a gold medal earn an athlete $113,200, but also regional. The New York Times previously reported that Team USA . Narrator: Nailing a coveted sponsorship is hard. The nation also dropped rewards for team officials. But what else does it earn them? But now, athletes' sponsors can run certain ads during the Rule 40 period. Russia was runner-up with a $135,000 golden bonus, and France. But we do know in 2012, half of the US track and field Olympic team made $15,000 or less a year from the sport, including stipends, prize money, and sponsorships. For Olympic athletes who may not be big names quite yet, they often receive funding from friends or family and local businesses. Athleta now sponsors Simone Biles. Singapore pays its athletes $744,000 for a gold, $372,000 for. The Winter Olympics take place in Beijing, China this month with nearly 3,000 total athletes traveling to the games. More than 600 U.S. athletes are competing at the Tokyo Olympics, and the United States has so far won 11 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze. But some nations have made sure that their athletes will get paid handsomely for capturing Olympic glory, in cash and otherwise. Beyond that, Olympians rely on other revenue streams for their sporting endeavors, including efforts to land lucrative endorsement deals. Phoenix Petroleum is also honoring her medal with free fuel for life. Several have actually gone into debt competing in the Olympicslike former UFC star Ronda Rousey, who became homeless a few months after winning a judo bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games. 11 Best Parenting Books for New Moms and Dads, 12 Best LED Face Masks to Zap Acne and Wrinkles. Become a GH+ member to read and save unlimited articles. While the International Olympic Committee does not pay prize money to medalists, many countries offer monetary rewards to their athletes for the number of medals they win at the Olympics. For most athletes, it's not enough. This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 15:14. Compare that to the salary of USA Track & Field's CEO, who earned $1.2 million in 2018. As the most decorated Olympian of all time, Phelps has earned major endorsement deals with companies like Visa and Under Armour. There are a few different types of sponsorships Olympic athletes can sign with. How much money do Olympic athletes get paid? Athletes don't get paid for taking part in the Summer or Winter Olympic Games, but do tend to receive a monetary reward from their country's Olympic committee if they win a medal. . The host country of these Games, Japan, pays similarly, with medal bonuses of roughly $45,000 for gold, $18,000 for silver and $9,000 for bronzeexcept in baseball, with members of the Japanese team reportedly in line for an extra $45,000 if they can win the tournament. Indonesia's Aflah Prawira competing in a heat for the men's 1,500m freestyle on July 30. How much does Russia pay for Olympic medals? But there's a lot of expenses associated with being an athlete, because you are in fact a business, and a business has overhead. The 19-year-old turned pro last year and has already earned $4 million in endorsement deals from Nike, Kellogg's, Hershey's and Procter & Gamble. A gold medal is worth $37,500, a silver medal is worth $22,500 and a bronze medal is worth $15,000. Here's Just How Much Money Olympic Athletes Make, What Is Simone Biles' Net Worth? A Kazakhstan government official announced this month that gold-medal winners would receive$250,000, silver medalists $150,000 and bronze medalists $75,000. KYIV, Ukraine (AP . Since getting out of the service in 2017, Bae has missed about half of his cuts and now only ranks No. But a third-place finish would have guaranteed him a lot more money, he said. In 2017, the amount athletes earn for medals at the Olympics games was raised from $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. You can now save articles. In fact, a recent survey conducted by the non-profit Australian Sports Foundation discovered just under half of the 521 athletes questioned were " teetering on the brink of retirement ", taking home less than $23,000 a year. Hidilyn Diaz of Team Philippines competes during the Weightlifting - Women's 55kg Group A on day three of the 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo International Forum on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. The same year, the amount for Paralympic Games. U.S.: $37,500 (It was increased from $25,000 after 2016 and there is now a tax exemption on winnings for athletes without elite earning power. Narrator: Some Olympians make millions of dollars. Off the field, the gold medalist works as a professional makeup artist and has a motivational sports camp in the works called "You Throw Girl.". But scoring lucrative deals is rare, and hardlythe norm. Aaron: If I got to get shoes every two to three months, that's $200, $300. But, if they do well at the games the athletes can make some serious money. The highest-paid athletes in the United States earn over $100 million annually. Athletes receive between $52,000 to $80,000. There are other forms of support for U.S. Olympians, as well, including health insurance that's provided courtesy of Elite Athlete Health Insurance. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Some U.S. athletes also receive stipends that help cover their rent and food, per CNBC. Kazakhstan weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo competing on July 26. Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, for example, dont provide any extra pay for medals, and neither do smaller delegations like Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tonga or the U.S. Virgin Islands. I worked at Panera, a bank. But the size of these stipends can vary wildly based on how well an athlete places and which sport they compete in. (Ironically, most Olympians couldnt afford to own and maintain such cars. But Cheung, who had carried Hong Kongs flag during the opening ceremony, did his home territory proud, battling back from an early deficit against Garozzo to become Hong Kongs first Olympic champion in 25 years. $5,000 - Top 5 position in World Championship. Still, the lucky few who manage to climb the Olympic podium could be in line for a hefty bonus checkas long as theyre from the right place. A U.S. Olympic athlete, for example, receives $37,500 US for each gold medal in Tokyo, plus $22,500 for silver. Ongoing uncertainty about letting Russian and Belarusian athletes try to qualify for the Paris Olympics affects "less than half" of the 32 sports at the games. Yahoo Finance reports that those delicious prizes remain on offer in Tokyo. A handful of athletesmay score multimillion dollar endorsements or sponsorship deals, either before competing at the Olympics or after achieving success in the Games. The payments extend through the top eight places in each event. The British Olympic Association does not pay athlete salaries, nor do they pay medal bounties. Olympians who actually earn a gold, silver, or bronze medal at the Olympics have actually been able to receive between $10,000 and $30,000 for selling their medals online, according to USA Today. Narrator: Compare that to track and field, where 128 American athletes are headed to the Olympic Games competing for 48 gold medals. However, as stated by US Olympic rower Megan Musnicki, her total stipend amounts to a meagre $2000 a month and for athletes competing in less mainstream sports such as fencing it can often drop to as low as $300 a month. She was the first American woman to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. I didn't even have ways of making money for rent. Spending around a month in the Olympic village can be costly for Olympic athletes. The Olympians were presented with their brand new set of wheels at a ceremony on Thursday, which was also attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Interfax . But countries bonus schemes can differ in ways other than the amount. Somewhere in the middle, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays members of Team USA $37,500 (26,975) for each gold medal, $22,500 (16,185) for every silver, and $15,000 (10,790) for a . But many countries do, and while the U.S. and Japan have plenty of company in their general price rangethe individual-gold-medal payouts in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland, to name a few, are in the same ballpark, stretching from about $15,000 to about $70,000they ultimately land on the modest end of the spectrum. Additionally, they stay in the Olympic village for around a month. The fencer arrived at the Games ranked 19th in foil, and his path didnt get any easier from there: He had to face 2018 world champion Alessio Foconi in the Round of 16 before tangling with the defending Olympic champion, Daniele Garozzo, in the final. Individual-sport athletes from Bulgaria are eligible to receive up to about $143,000 per gold medal, depending on the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. A lot of hourly jobs went away for a good period of time during COVID. Turns out, it varies. It didnt take long for an athlete to come to collect: Two Kazakhstani competitors won bronze last Saturday, in weightlifting and judo, and another weightlifter followed with a bronze on Monday. This is a BETA experience. Though U.S. athletes aren't paid just for competing, Team USA does issue financial rewards for medaling. And that's the amount an athlete earns for each medalso let's say you. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. The average salary for volleyball players is $45,722. CAD $20,000, CAD $15,000, CAD $10,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. By JOHN LEICESTER - Associated Press. Most of that prize money is not. US Olympians used to have to pay as much as $8,900 in taxes on a gold medal bonus. Unfortunately, this exacerbates the inequality of the Olympicsonly some countries have enough disposable athletic funding to dole out payments to anyone who trains or wins medals. In places like Singapore, India and elsewhere, many of the national sporting initiatives are driven by governments that sometimes use higher monetary rewards to encourage a growing sporting culture, he told CNBC. So, the Chinese medalists will at least be fashionable. Another source of income is through endorsement deals. There are equipment costs, coaching costs, training costs, medical costs and more, leaving athletes to scrounge for cash from sponsors and grants. The path to the 2024 Paris Olympics for Ukrainian athletes is clouded by war, anger and pain. All Rights Reserved. Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini of Italy won gold in the women's lightweight double sculls. During this year's Winter . To watch & listen the FULL Podcast check out the links belowListen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5JQu91FRevsm4GSPr8JbYBListen on Apple Podcasts . The U.S. Olympic Committee pays $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for a silver, and $15,000 for a bronze. This is a BETA experience. Like Indonesia, the Malaysian government gives medalists both a one-time payment and a monthly allowance: an upfront check of roughly $237,000 for gold, $71,000 for silver or $24,000 for bronze. The data showed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards its athletes $37,500 for every gold medal won, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze . Bobsled is a much smaller Olympic sport, and so there's three medals that we can earn. With of all this time designated to the Olympics, how do Olympic athletes make money? That's being rich. So, the short answer is no, that Olympians don't normally pay for any expenses while competing at the Olympics. That's wealth. Canada is not the only country to reward their Olympic athletes for earning medals. Get the details here. But that's nothing when it comes to other countries who. All rights reserved. The 19-year-old phenom passed up on sponsorship deals in order to swim for Stanford this fall, but she'll still accept hundreds of thousands in prize money for her six medals. You can now save articles. We have a law for that", "Hidilyn won't be taxed; What about other athletes? If they somehow manage to claim a gold medal, they will be eligible for a one-time payment of about $238,000 from the government, plus a lifetime monthly allowance of roughly $1,200. I started driving for DoorDash. NBA, I mean, we don't even have to cover that one. Monica: I would ref competitions here in New York City, but all of them were canceled, so I wasn't making money from that. Competitors don't really receive a fixed salary. But the select few who are able to scale the podium339 sets of medals are set to be awarded at the Tokyo Games, across 33 sportsmay find that their countries are willing to make it all worth their while. 1, and I for one think its a banger. . Italy now pays 180,000 euros to its gold medalistsa 20% jump from 2016plus 90,000 for silver and 60,000 for bronze. There are a few different types of sponsorships Olympic athletes can sign with. For most athletesaside from a few highly paid Olympians like Kevin Durant and Naomi Osakacompeting at this elite level is a financial struggle. In comparison, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee shells out around 27,000 for a gold medal, 16k for silver and 10k for bronze. To read and save unlimited articles, sign up to become a GH+ member. The Czech Republic has 116 athletes competing in Beijingtying with Sweden for the ninth-largest delegation at the Gamesalthough 48 come from its mens and womens hockey teams. We get a stipend, and it is $300 a month. Learn more about our, How 15 U.S. Olympians Actually Make Money. China: $31,400. Answer (1 of 3): Zero. Beijing individual gold medalists are entitled to 3,049 BSB, or about $143,000 at the current level. Shes not the only one taking home an extracurricular prize, either. Some other countries similarly offer pensions to medalists, including Croatia, which has had more success on the snow, with 11 medals in its Winter Olympic history. Rp 5 billion, Rp 2 billion, and Rp 1 billion, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. 10 Kyle Keith Shewfelt Shewfelt is a gymnast from Canada. UK Sport's funding for Olympic and Paralympic sport for the Tokyo cycle is 374 million, with 69 per cent from Lottery money, and 31 per cent from the government. Team USA skier Jaelin Kauf wins a silver medal for her Womens Mogul run at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. But Diaz isnt just getting this payday. Most Team USA athletes are not represented by sports agents and some have no sponsors or endorsements at all, according to a Forbes report. Compared to the Olympics and their large monetary rewards, Paralympic champions historically have not earned as much for each medal finish. So what kind of consistent salaries do athletes get? Philippines [ edit] Written into Article 39 of the Korean constitution, this provision is hard to avoidunless, say, youre a K-pop star specially recommended for exemption by the Ministry of Culture. Taiwanor Chinese Taipei, as it is known at the Olympicsis already on the hook for one big payment this year: Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun set Olympic records in the womens under-59-kilogram division to claim gold. So, how much does an Olympian make? The Russian Olympic Committees theme song when winning gold is Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. As the Beijing Winter Games get underway, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. [23] The money, however, is taxable and the medal winner is obligated to make a donation back into the sport they are representing. Olympic athletes do not get paid by just attending the Olympic Games. Lauryn: During the course of my career, I was really fortunate. According to the USOPC website, U.S. Olympians will earn $37,500 for each gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, $22,500 for a . Lauryn Williams: You see someone that's on television all the time and assume all Olympic athletes are famous, all you have to do is get a medal and you'll be rich. These logos will appear on the athletes' clothing during non-Olympic competitions, though. Some countries, mostly those who win very few medals, are much more generous with their prize money, according to moneyunder30.com. For Liu, it was the difference of more than $160,000. Lauryn: And you also are responsible for your coach, making sure that they are paid and compensated accordingly. Outliers make more than this. Here's How To Shop The Dyson Airwrap Restock, 15 Best Amazon Deals to Shop This February, Saatva Just Extended Its Presidents' Day 2023 Sale, 14 TikTok Cleaning Products That Actually Work, The Best Post-Presidents' Day Deals to Shop Now, The Best Amazon Presidents' Day Deals of 2023, 20 Best Presidents' Day Mattress Sales of 2023, The Best Presidents' Day Furniture Deals of 2023, Weve been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. Is it all worth it? This year, athletes will receive up to 142,288 (roughly $159,000) per gold in individual sports, and teams will receive up to 426,862 ($477,000) to divvy up. The more medals athletes win, the more money they make. But now, athletes' sponsors can run certain ads during the Rule 40 period. 11 on this list for giving its Olympic gold medalists a lifetime allowance of 4,600 euros per year ($5,500), with additional support as they approach retirement age. The commission vowed to give Diaz an additional 5 million pesos, and with contributions from President Rodrigo Duterte, the city of Zamboanga and other individuals and companies, she is due to haul in 48.5 million Philippine pesos ($970,000), as well as a house, a condo unit, a van and unlimited flights on two airlines. 100,000, 70,000, and 45,000, for Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively. Prize money is doubled in the case a medal is won by a team of four or more individuals. [3], According to Forbes, only Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden don't provide monetary incentives for their athletes winning an Olympic medal (as of the 2020 Summer Olympics). By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider So it's a tough kind of balancing act that the NGBs are doing to figure out, how do we support the athletes that are up-and-coming, but then also how do we make sure that those who are doing awesome right now are well cared for? All males in South Korea are drafted into 18 months of mandatory military service following their training. Hell soon collect gold of a different kind: The territorys government rewards its Olympic athletes with 5 million Hong Kong dollars ($643,000 at the current exchange rate) for gold medals in individual events. New rules approved last year from USA Track & Field, the sport's national governing body, set aside $10,000 for any . This year, U.S. Olympians can expect to receive $37,500 for each gold medal they win, $22,500 for each silver, and $15,000 for each bronze from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USPOC), per Forbes. Or steeplechase. So always going into a race with that is an immense amount of pressure. Playing sports can be lucrative for some people - even if they don't . Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei) on July 27. Then there are countries like Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which plan to award bonuses to any athletes who earn medals but will wait until after the fact to determine the exact amounts. Clement's got a few more famous moves than the 400-meter hurdles. Athletes can sign personal sponsorship deals to earn money apart from winning medals. Phil thinks that some of the funding for Team USA should come from the US government. Given the cost of training, financial support for athletes needs to come from other places . review process. As long as the athlete's other earnings don't exceed $1 million, the medal . Here, we dive into the math behind 15 Olympians' take-home pay, from hourly wages to multi-million-dollar salaries. Maggie: You know, a lot of girls on our team are coaches. It really set me back financially. Kosovo's Albin Tahiri in the slalom at the world championships in February 2021. The U.S. lands in the middle of the pack on the global medal-bonus spectrum, based on Forbes reporting, paying more than twice as much for gold as countries like Australia and Canada and roughly half as much as nations like France and Romania. A bronze medalist in Singapore will still make over four times what a U.S. gold medalist willand that's just the beginning of what they can earn after the Games. They changed the rules so athletes won't be taxed on their medal bonuses if they make under $1 million annually. At the 2018 games, the USOPC upped the medal bonuses by 50%. I've been raised by a single mother since I'm 8 years old, so she definitely was funding everything when I was younger. Today, the bronze medalist heads back to work as a risk analytics consultant for Deloitte. The United States gives athletes who win gold $37,500, while one European country awards six figures. Despite his contract with the New England Patriots, Ebner got the a-OK to compete in rugby sevens for the sport's debut in the Olympics. These numbers are a hefty 50% increase from what American athletes earned at the 2016 Summer Games, per CNBC. Athletes can also pick up another $112,000 from the government for an Olympic-record performance. Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant finds himself the subject of controversy yet again after an early morning social media post appeared to show Morant holding a gun inside a club. As the Beijing Winter Games get underway, plenty of athletes will be competing for medals, honor, andas it turns outlots of money. Some, like U.S. badminton player Zhang Beiwen, reportedly relied on crowdsourcing to finance their trip to Tokyo. US athletes striving toward the Olympics are generally left to their own devices in terms of funding training and travel for most of their careers, and even once they reach the top tier, they. Lithuanias government anchors its medal bonuses to the countrys basic social benefit, a monthly amount used in various social security calculations. While the country has never claimed a medal on snow, the Cyprus Sports Organization will pay for a finish anywhere in the top 16: roughly $168,000 for a gold medal, $140,000 for silver and $123,000 for bronze, all the way down to $11,000 for 16th place. A gold medal is worth $37,500, a. A gold medal is worth $189,800. 1, which, depending on your musical tastes, could be a nice prize itselfor if your preferences are more like mine, maybe a punishment. How London laid the groundwork for sustainable sporting architecture, Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz the country's first Olympic gold medalist, Diaz will reportedly receive at least 33 million Philippine pesos, U.S. athletes also receive other forms of support, reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, NFL replaces Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game, The mindset that helped a marathoner become one of the country's best in just 4 years: 'Working harder isn't necessarily better', Fanatics wants to be a $100 billion company here's how it plans to get there. The countrys Central Asian neighbors also reportedly offer big cash prizes to medalists. Unlike countries such as the UK or Singapore, American Olympians don't get paid to attend the Olympics. In Slovenia, Olympic gold medalists can collect through both routes: about $22,000 from the national Olympic committee and roughly $62,000 per gold medal from the government. Plus, how the winnings stack up for individual and team event athletes. While the International Olympic Committee itself don't provide monetary rewards to Olympic medalists, some countries provide prize money to athletes for winning a medal in the Olympics. So, they sold emwhich while totally understandable, feels a little like kicking a gift horse in the mouth.) Turkey lists its medal bonuses in republic golda 22-karat-gold coinas opposed to the countrys official currency, the lira. So, not only is there an incentive to stand on the pedestal in order to have your name etched in. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko awards Russian two-time silver medalist swimmer Yulia Yefimova with the Order of Honour during a ceremony at the Kremlin on Aug. 25, 2016, in Moscow. He also fought Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero in 2013, earning at least $32M (guaranteed) for that fight, excluding pay-per-view fees. [22], The largest prize money under the MAP is for athletes who clinch an Olympic gold medal. Some of the Korean public wonder if too many athletes are gaining exemptionsskepticism that the Washington Post found was even more marked when the program was extended to specific finishes in the World Cup and other athletic events. Olympic champions also receive an allowance of about $1,400 a monthfor life. In dollar terms, a Malaysian Olympic bronze winner will receive a higher performance reward than a gold winner from Australia or Canada. The country sent only 23 athletes to Tokyo. China and Russia, two Olympic powerhouses, have reportedly paid medalists at past Games but were among the delegations that did not respond to requests for comment about their plans for Beijing. Here are the 10 highest paid gymnasts. The self-proclaimed "Shot Diva" just became the first American woman to win shot put at the Olympics, and set a new national record. Most of that prize money is not taxable unless athletes report gross income that exceeds $1 million. Narrator: Lauryn Williams competed in Olympic track and field and bobsled. Others draw regular salary by holding a variety of jobs. For the Tokyo Olympics, Italian gold medalists receive 180,000 for their victory, with smaller prizes for silver and bronze. free lifetime flights on AirAsia Philippines. In Singapore, gold medalists net a cool $1 million, while Indonesia pays around $750,000, according to Money Under 30. Italy is an Olympic power, finishing seventh in total medal count at last years Tokyo Summer Games with 40 and 13th at the last Winter Games, in PyeongChang in 2018, with ten. Monica started one to fund her way to Tokyo. $10,000 - Olympic bronze medal. Some of that money is provided for annual athlete training and stipends. Russia Is the Only Winner in the Kamila Valieva Mess, Its Time for USA Gymnastics to Take the Fall Its Been Avoiding, The 24 Craziest Stats From the Tokyo Olympics. Balazs Erdelyi of Hungary during a water polo match against South Africa on July 29. Olympic athletes do not get paid by just attending the Olympic Games. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. It's now up to $30,000. This was deemed a historical breakthrough since it was the first medal ever by a Canadian artistic gymnast and it was a gold medal. Narrator: So how do Olympians make money, and why isn't it enough? And instead of a onetime jackpot, Malaysia, Estonia, and Indonesia promise their winning athletes decades of subsidies. For example, tennis star Naomi Osaka reportedly made $55 million from endorsements in 12 months, and was named the highest-paid female athlete ever, according to reports. With very little options, he used the only skill that he learned to make some money: performing gymnastic stunts on the streets. Outside of the ring, the boxer works with his dad as a lube technician at a Kansas trucking company. Like most of the 11,000 athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics, Cheung Ka-long was facing long odds. In Rio, the first-time Olympian earned a bronze in the men's light flyweight event. Competitions leading up to the Olympics, like the Diamond League meets, can have $10,000 first-place prizes. A 2012 CNN Report states most American Olympic athletes make $15,000 or less. We are the only major country in the world, and one of very few countries period, where the government does not get involved in funding its Olympic team. The United States Olympic Committee awards cash prizes of $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.