The Olympics is known a worldwide event that many people look forward to watching, especially sports enthusiasts. Rio 2016 is what’s making headlines currently in the news and sports world. We all idealize people like Michael Phelps, who is known for snatching all the gold medals. We dream of being in his shoes, and having fame and fortune. I think we all know why though. Athletes make the big bucks. Olympians compete for their home countries pride, and honor. It is evident that they put blood, sweat and tears and that they work hard. Being an athlete requires a lot of determination and training. So in the end, it is only fair that they get rewarded.
I’m sure a lot of people are curious as to how much Olympic winners and Olympians make. When we are looking at the logistics of it, realistically, earnings vary from each country. According to NextShark, in this year’s Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, looking at the earnings of a gold medal winner, it can carry a generous payment. Countries like Italy, Russia and France give each of their gold medalists $180,000, $135,000 and $65,000.
Looking at China, for its part, they reward their top athletes with $31,400 per gold medal, whereas the United States hands out $25,000 for each gold medalist. As you can see the earnings vary by a large amount. If we’re going to get technical approximately $155,000 difference. People have to take into consideration that athletes also make their money from sponsors and endorsements.
If you want to look at an exact chart for 2016 Olympic medal bonuses. What you will notice yet again is that the earnings differ according to country. We have to consider and think about those who compete in the Olympics, but that don’t actually win medals. I think this is something that is disregarded.
Although we are only focusing on Olympic winners, I thought it would be interesting to fill society in on those who don’t medal, because I’m sure many are curious. Other than the excitement of the rivalry, they have to battle quiet hard for earnings. Fun fact people, being an athlete isn’t as easy as it looks. In the United States, track and field stars, each that rank in the top 10 nationally in their categories, make approximately, only $16,553 USD per year. That is definitely a lot less than what average middle class people make today. It looks like they have to work really hard to make ends meet and I’m sure that’s not easy.
If were going to focus on the positive side of Olympians earnings and on any athlete’s earnings it would definitely be Michael Phelps. He is the most hyped and talked about athlete. He is like a celebrity. He is always the talk of the Olympics. He is definitely confident, he allegedly shushes the crowd before he is about to perform, and he always raises his hand with a number one sign, claiming that he is number one.
Clearly he is self-assured, but he has reason to be. He is very successful and a talented athlete. According to College Candy, Michael Phelps supposedly attained $5 million for his Under Armour deal – and his income obviously does not end there. If were looking at top athletes, which is what many are obviously interested in. For the US, for example, gold, silver and bronze winners earn $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 respectively. Looking at the United States from both websites we can see that the US earn less.
What to take from all this, is that if you want to make the big bucks, the gold medal is obviously going to get you there. Olympians like Michael Phelps will make a ridiculous amount of money and this is aside from endorsements. To be specific, Phelps will make $140,000 for the Rio Olympics and a monstrous $650,000 across all five of his sporting appearances. So if your curious what’s inspiring these stellar athletes, or better yet Michael Phelps, remember, it’s a lot more than just being full of themselves and bragging.
So as mentioned before, Michael Phelps has much reason to be arrogant, although it doesn’t mean he has to be. Honestly it is something about people that are named Michael that are legends. Of course I’ve already mentioned Michael Phelps. There’s Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls basketball superstar, Michael Jackson, Legendary Pop King, Michael Caine, legendary actor, Michael Kors, fashion designer and Michael Vick, Football star.
Although it is the summer Olympics now, another well-known Olympian that I want to focus on is Shaun White. Shaun White is of course well known for the winter Olympics as a snowboarder. Shaun White alone makes $20 million, from his various endorsements and his majority share of the air and style competitive snowboarding event. Undoubtedly, Shaun does well for himself, just like Michael Phelps. At the end of the day, if you work hard your going to be successful and make a lot of money, and that is evidently, Michael Phelps mindset. But this state of mind applies to anyone.
