Emily Brown
The Olympics is well and truly underway with dozens of medals already secured, but an impressive chunk of gold isn't always the only thing the winners get their hands on.
Japan is currently leading the way in gold medals, with a total of six won since the Olympics began last week. They're followed closely by France, People's Republic of China, Australia, and Republic of Korea, which all have five gold medals at the time of writing (30 July).
Securing a medal is a huge accomplishment in itself, and as a result athletes do not receive any financial rewards from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Advert
However, at least 33 of the 206 competing countries offer bonuses to the athletes who manage to secure the top spot on the podium, according to Forbes, and 15 of those offer more than $100,000 - meaning it's no small change.
Spain offers athletes $102,000 for coming in first place, though athletes in team sports receive less depending on the number of people taking part.
Forbes reports that teams of two earn approximately $82,000 for a gold medal, while groups of three or more receive about $54,000 each.
Ukraine is yet to win any gold medals at the Olympics, but any athletes who take the top spot will be awarded a bonus of $125,000.
Italy currently has two gold medals, for which its athletes will receive a bonus of
$196,000 for.
The country also offers bonuses for silver and bronze medals, amounting to $98,000 and $65,000, respectively.
Competing independently of China at the games, Hong Kong offers its gold medal-holding athletes the biggest bonus of any country, handing out $768,000 for a gold medal.
It's not surprising that bonuses then continue for second and third place, but the country also offers cash for its athletes in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or even eighth place.
Athletes who come in fourth can earn nearly $100,000 - almost as much as Spain offers for a gold medal - while fifth through eighth place earn almost $50,000.
The US is not one of the countries that offers athletes a bonus higher than $100,000, but winners don't walk away empty handed.
The country has so far secured three gold medals in the games; two in swimming and one in fencing.
They were won by fencer Lee Kiefer, swimmer Torri Huske, and the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay team; Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel.
To celebrate their win, each American athlete with a gold medal will receive a bonus of $37,500 from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
Israel: $275,000
Serbia: $218,000
Malaysia: $214,000
Lithuania: $182,000
Moldova: $171,000
Latvia: $155,000
Hungary: $154,000
Bulgaria: $139,000
Kosovo: $120,000
Estonia: $109,000
Czech Republic: $103,000
Now all athletes have to do is win those medals... it shouldn't be too hard, right?