Military exemptions, SUVs and houses: Bizarre rewards athletes get for winning Olympic medal

CH

Chante Hohip

6 August 2024 | 12:22

Aside from the regular cash handouts, countries are getting creative with their Olympic rewards for their athletes.

Bongani Bingwa catches up on the latest world news with Adam Gilchrist. 

Listen below.

As the International Olympic Committee doesn’t award Olympians any prize money with their medals, several countries are putting up their own rewards.

ALSO READ: How much is a gold medal worth at the Paris Olympics?

South Africa is giving gold medal athletes R400,000 while Taiwan is rewarding their gold medal athletes with R13.6million. 

Other countries are getting a little more creative.

South Korea says athletes will get a Hyundai car and an exemption from the military service.

India will reward their athletes with an SUV and free air travel.

Serbia will give their medal winners a national pension, which will start from the age of 40.

In addition to cash, two athletes from Indonesia were promised five cows, a meatball restaurant and a new house during the Tokyo Games in 2021. 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion

Get the whole picture 💡

Take a look at the topic timeline for all related articles.

Trending News