Inflation has not had an effect on the amount of cash Uzbekistan is offering to its Olympic athletes. Just like in 2004, the rewards for medals are set at $100,000 for gold, $50,000 for silver, and $25,000 for bronze. There’s no chance that this will put a strain on the state coffers though.
However, the Uzbekistan Olympic team, which took off for Italy Monday, is unlikely to break the bank if it does triumph in Turin, as unlike the 178-member Russian delegation, it only has four competitors. Artyom Knyazev and Marina Aganina will represent the country together in ice dancing, Anastasia Gimazetdinova will also take to the ice in the figure skating competition and Kairat Ermetov will be going for glory in the men’s downhill.
Does anyone know if other countries in the neighborhood are paying for medals?
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Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
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Kazakstan has been offering pay for medals for years, although I don’t know in what amounts or if they still do it.
Paying for medals is pretty standard, I would even say that most countries pay some sort of rewards to their athletes. Amounts vary, of course. US and China pay about 25k for gold, Russia pays 100k or so.
Here’s how it works for US athletes. It’s different–fairly significantly so in my opinion.
But, this all underlines one of the many things I don’t like about the Olympics. The cash kind of undermines the whole “amateur” part of the deal, but that’s been dead and gone since 1992.