Rio 2016 Olympics: How Much Cash Can Medalists Make?

Climbing the podium to receive a medal is the goal of every Olympian, but how much are they compensated for their success?

The 2016 Rio Olympics run from Aug. 5-21 and are expected to cost in excess of $4.6 billion. That’s a lot of cash any way you slice it, especially when new estimates have these summer games running about $1.6 billion over budget.

However, those astronomical costs aside, once the games begin on Aug. 5 it will be all about the athletes competing for their spot on the medal podium. Updated Olympics odds have the United States as the clear favourites to win the most gold medals, which got us wondering about how much each gold medalist would profit from their achievements. Turns out that a number of factors come into play. Just take a look at how much gold medalists are compensated per country.

Going for Gold at the Summer Olympics

USA athletes are awarded $25,000 for winning gold, which is near the bottom of the pay scale per country, but is much more generous than the United Kingdom which doesn’t offer any cash prizes to medalists. Smaller countries like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan top the list, but they obviously don’t pay out nearly as much as the US with so few gold medal hopefuls.

Rio 2016 Olympians Paying the Price

But even that $25,000 figure for US gold medalists should be taken with a grain of salt. Cash awarded to medalists is considered income earned abroad, so that means the IRS gets its cut too. Gold medalists could have to hand over almost $10,000 of their winnings in taxes if they fall into the highest tax bracket.

So, while gold medalists may make history at Rio 2016, winning gold doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve struck it rich.

Check out all updated Rio 2016 Olympics odds.