$20,000 Bonus for Olympic Athletes

I came across two articles on Olympic bonuses starting next year in Beijing.

Canadian athletes get $20,000 for Gold, $15,000 for Silver and $10,000 for Bronze. The current conversion rate is $1.0187 CAD to USD.

The Canadian Olympic Committee says the athlete support and reward program is a way to compensate high-performance athletes for the financial burdens they often face while training for Olympic Games.

Australian athletes get $20,000 for Gold, $13,400 for Silver and $6700 for Bronze per athlete. At a conversion rate of $0.8766 AUD to USD, that’s $17,500, $11,750 and $5800 USD respectively.

“The athletes need and thoroughly deserve our financial help. It is critical we increase our funding,” said AOC president John Coates. “We want our athletes to properly prepare for Beijing without having to worry about paying their bills and in some cases putting food on the table for their families.”

Frankly, athletes need money before they win a Gold medal. Travel expenses, physio and massage therapy, and proper facilities are the biggest expenses for the athletes. These expenses, coupled with a lack of income from not holding a full time job, creates enormous pressure just to make the Olympics, let alone win a Gold medal. It is not uncommon to see credit card debt rampant in developing athletes.

But I am sure our top Canadian athletes like Tyler Christopher, Gary Reed or Perdita Felicien won’t say no a bonus next year if they medal!