While neither the men's nor the women's Olympic golf tournaments offer a purse, the 120 combined players could earn a lot of money from their home countries for winning a gold, silver or bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro.
Olympians are provided with financial incentives from a variety of countries for medaling in their events. The bonuses vary significantly by country, but they can be huge motivators to players who are competing in sports with poor pay.
Here's a look at how much select countries pay their Olympic gold medalists.
2024 Paris Olympics medal bonuses
- United States: Americans earn $37,500 per gold medal, while the U.S. Olympic Committee pays $22,500 for silver medals and $14,000 for bronze. Then the medalists have to pay taxes on said money.
- Great Britain: The British crown doesn't pay their gold medalists any money. However, they do get their face on a stamp, which is nice.
- South Africa: A gold medalist earns approximately $36,000.
- China: A gold medalists earns approximately $31,500.
- Canada: A gold medalist earns approximately $15,000.
- Australia: A gold medalist earns approximately $13,000, with $10,000 for silver and $7,000 for bronze.
- Thailand: A gold medalist reportedly receives 10 million baht for a gold medal, which is approximately $288,000. A silver medalist gets 6 million baht, or approximately $173,000. It's all paid out over 20 years.
- South Korea: A gold medalist receives 60 million won, or about $54,000, while silver medalists earn 30 million won (approximately $27,000) and bronze medalists win 18 million won (approximately $16,000). Male gold medalists are also exemption from otherwise required two-year military conscription.
- Germany: A gold medalist is paid approximately $22,000.
- Norway: A Norwegian gold medalist isn't paid for their victory.
- Sweden: A Swedish gold medalist isn't paid for their victory.
- Spain: A Spanish medalist is paid substantially by their government: $102,000 for a gold, $52,000 for a silver and $33,000 for a bronze.
- Mexico: A Mexican gold medalist earns 3 million Mexican pesos ($161,783.65), while a silver earns 2 million Mexican pesos ($107,826.71) and a bronze medalist earns 1 million pesos Mexican pesos ($53,915.81).
- Japan: The Japanese medalists earn $32,000 for a gold medal, $13,000 for a silver medal, and $6,000 for a bronze medal.
