Win one Olympic medal it's any professional athlete's dream. You train hard, you work for years in order to participate in a single, short, race that can be worth a lifetime.
At Tokyo 2020, for i 384 Italian athletes in the race (198 men and 186 women) engaged in 34 different disciplines, there will be 1089 medals available, objects which for the athletes present have not only a symbolic and sporting value, but also an economic one. Why whoever wins gets a large cash prize, which in the case of the Azzurri is the highest among Western countries. The reason is easy to say: with respect to the Rio 2016 Olympics, CONI has decided to increase the amount by 20%. financial awards to be given to medalists. "An act due to the athletes who have made so many sacrifices this year" explained the president of Coni, Giovanni Malagò.
OLYMPIC MEDALS: WHAT ARE THEY WORTH
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Azzurri who will conquer the gold medal they will take home 180 thousand euros gross. L'silver is worth half, that is 90 thousand euros gross, while with one bronze medal they will earn 60 thousand euros gross.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES?
There is no shared rule, therefore each country autonomously decides the amount of cash prizes to be paid to athletes who win or reach the podium in their disciplines.
The Italians, as mentioned, will be among the sportsmen who will earn the most in case of victory. A US or Chinese athlete, for example, he receives about 40 thousand dollars for a gold medal. On the other hand, the prize available to the participants amounts to 50 thousand euros French sportsmen who win gold, while even there are states, such as the UK, which do not provide any prize money for the Olympic champions. There is one though: whoever wins can directly choose advertising and sponsorship contracts, which are often worth much higher figures.
HOW MUCH DOES A MEDAL COST?
It's called a gold medal, even though it's actually made of silver. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is reality. The medals of the Olympic champions are made almost entirely of silver, to which a coating of 6 grams of gold is then applied. The cost of a medal is therefore close to 500 euros.
The silver medal is instead made entirely of the aforementioned metal. Its market value is around 250 euros. Finally, the bronze medal, which however is made of copper and zinc. Its value is therefore very low: around 5 euros per piece.
