HK most generous in rewarding Olympic athletes

During the 16 days of the Paris Olympics, athletes from over 200 countries and regions competed in 32 major sports competitions and won a total of 329 medals.

How many additional prizes will these medallists receive from their respective delegations?

According to Forbes and CNBC, based on the public information of different countries or regions, at least 33 out of the 206 participating countries or regions in this year's Paris Olympics will offer cash prizes to the medalists.

Among them, 15 countries or regions will offer cash prizes of more than US$100,000 (about HK$780,000), with Hong Kong topping the list.

Hong Kong's prize money for Olympic gold medallists is as high as HK$6 million, while Israel's prize money for gold medallists is US$270,537, which is the second highest.

After winning medals, British athletes can only 'earn more' through advertisements and sponsorships to increase their commercial value.

As the host of Paris Olympic Games, France has increased the prize money for medal-winning athletes.

Among them, gold medalists will receive €80,000 (about HK$680,000), which is €15,000 higher than that in the Tokyo Olympics, while silver and bronze medalists will receive €40,000 (about HK$340,000) and €20,000 (about HK$170,000) respectively. French athletes adopt an accumulative system in awarding prizes. Athletes who have won medals in several sports can accumulate higher prizes.

Korea's military service law provides that anyone who wins a medal at the Olympics or a gold medal at the Asian Games can be exempted from military service by enlisting in the armed forces for four weeks of training and substituting public service for military service.

Serbia to pay national pension to gold medallists.

Apart from prizes, one of the most common perks for Olympic medallists is free rides on public transport.

Paris Olympic gold medallists in fencing, Vivian Kong and Edgar Cheung, have been given lifetime tickets on the HK MTR. Cathay Pacific Airways also said that it will offer all medallists free business-class travel for one year.

India's Abhinav Bindra, who won the 10-metre air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has been given free first-class travel on the country's trains for life. And when India won the country's first gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics, the country's IndiGo Airlines offered the gold medallist unlimited flights for a whole year.

Grab, Singapore's car rental service, provided free transport for one year to Rio 2016 100m butterfly gold medallist Joseph Schooling and his family, with Singapore Airlines offering one million air miles as an incentive for the award.

In addition, there are a number of other incentives.

The gold medallist in Poland receives a cash prize of 250,000 zlotys (about HK$490,000), an investment-grade diamond, a painting by a famous local artist and a holiday voucher for two.

In Malaysia, Grab has promised a year's free food ordering to the gold medallists, who will also receive a Chery SUV and a luxury flat from real estate developer Top Residency.

Japanese table tennis player Ishikawa Kasumi received 100 bags of rice after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Indonesian badminton women's doubles gold medallist Apriyani Rahayu has been given five cows and a new house by her hometown. Her partner Greysia Polii also received two branches of a meatball restaurant chain. State-run PT Pegadaian pledged to give them three kilograms of gold.

Jordanian athlete Ahmad Abughaush, who won his country's first gold medal in the men's 68kg category of taekwondo at the Rio Olympics in 2016, received rewards including a car and a luxury watch, and was awarded the outstanding medal of the first class by King Abdullah II.

Iraqi footballers were reported to have been awarded more than 9 million dinars (about HK$55,000) and a piece of land each for qualifying for the Olympics.

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