Olympic Medal Winners Receive Billions in Prize Money and Apartments... Exploring Reward Benefits [Paris Olympics]

Countries with Few Medals Offer Larger Rewards
Saudi Arabia Without Gold Likely to Give at Least 1.9 Billion KRW
Poland Celebrates 100 Years in Olympics with Diamonds and Apartments
Korea Offers 63 Million KRW for Gold Medals Plus Pension Benefits

As the 2024 Paris Olympics have opened, attention is focused on the scale of medal rewards offered by each country. Olympic medals bring great honor to individual athletes, but they also represent significant achievements for their nations, prompting governments to provide monetary rewards. Countries where medals are rare tend to offer more extravagant rewards. While some nations provide large cash prizes along with apartments, luxury cars, and jewelry, others like the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden do not offer separate cash rewards.

Wealthy oil-producing country Saudi Arabia is expected to award athletes more than 1.9 billion KRW for winning a gold medal. Saudi Arabia has yet to win an Olympic gold medal. During the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, karate silver medalist Tareg Hamedi received 5 million riyals (approximately 1.9 billion KRW), so if a gold medalist emerges at the Paris Olympics, it is likely they will receive an amount exceeding what Hamedi was awarded.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Singapore, whose last Olympic gold medal was in swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has decided to award 1 million Singapore dollars (approximately 1 billion KRW) to athletes who win gold in individual events. Silver and bronze medalists will receive 500,000 Singapore dollars (about 500 million KRW) and 250,000 Singapore dollars (about 250 million KRW), respectively.

Hong Kong has set a reward scale similar to Singapore’s. Gold medalists will receive 6 million Hong Kong dollars (about 1 billion KRW). According to a recent announcement by the Hong Kong Olympic Committee on the 10th, individual silver medalists will receive 3 million Hong Kong dollars (about 500 million KRW), and bronze medalists will get 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars (about 250 million KRW). This is an increase of 500,000 Hong Kong dollars compared to the previous Tokyo Summer Olympics. Team gold medalists will be awarded 12 million Hong Kong dollars (about 2.1 billion KRW). Hong Kong won 1 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The United States awards $37,500, $22,500, and $15,000 for gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. The U.S. ranked first in total medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with 113 medals (39 gold, 41 silver, 33 bronze) and ranked fourth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with 25 medals (8 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze).

Some countries provide substantial non-cash rewards along with monetary prizes.

Poland, commemorating 100 years of Olympic participation, plans to award medalists cash prizes ranging from $40,000 to $65,000 (approximately 55 million to 90 million KRW) along with luxury diamonds, travel vouchers for two, and artworks by famous artists. Notably, gold medalists will also receive a two-bedroom apartment to be built in the Warsaw metropolitan area. Malaysia will reward gold, silver, and bronze medalists with 1 million ringgit (about 300 million KRW), 300,000 ringgit (about 90 million KRW), and 100,000 ringgit (about 30 million KRW), respectively, along with luxury cars.

On the other hand, countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden do not provide separate cash rewards to medalists.

On the afternoon of the 9th, at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics team send-off ceremony held at Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul, key guests participated in a ceremony to wish the athletes success. From left to right: Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee; Jeon Jae-soo, Chairman of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee; fencing national team member Gu Bon-gil; Han Duck-soo, Prime Minister; badminton national team member Kim So-young; Jeong Gang-seon, team leader; and Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. [Photo by Yonhap News]

What about South Korea, which has set a goal of winning five gold medals at this Olympics?

South Korea has sent 143 athletes across 21 sports to the Paris Olympics but has not yet finalized the scale of reward payments. From the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics through the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, South Korea awarded 63 million KRW, 35 million KRW, and 25 million KRW for gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. Additionally, monthly pensions are provided. Gold medalists receive 1 million KRW monthly (or a lump sum of 67.2 million KRW). Silver medalists receive 750,000 KRW monthly (or a lump sum of 56 million KRW), and bronze medalists receive 525,000 KRW monthly (or a lump sum of 39.2 million KRW).

If there is a supporting organization for the sport, separate rewards are given. The Korea Golf Association, which is sending five athletes including Ko Jin-young and Kim Joo-hyung this year, has promised 300 million KRW for a gold medal. Silver and bronze medalists will receive 150 million KRW and 100 million KRW, respectively. The Korea Athletics Federation will provide bonuses of 200 million KRW for gold medalists, 100 million KRW for silver medalists, and 50 million KRW for bronze medalists according to its revised performance reward regulations.

Winning multiple medals increases the total reward. An San, who won three gold medals in archery at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, received 700 million KRW and a Genesis GV70 vehicle. Hyundai Motor Group decided to award 300 million KRW for individual gold medals and 200 million KRW for team gold medals. Kim Je-deok, who won gold in the mixed team and men’s team events, also received 400 million KRW.