Historically, the Olympics were primarily a part of a religious festival in honour of the father of the Greek gods and goddesses, Zeus! Held in Olympia, the athletes of the Olympics, were all male citizens of the city-states from every corner of the Greek world! This event began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the station race, a foot race spanning 600 feet long. Literary traditions have stated that this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. The Olympics, have come a long way, since!
Now, with a total of 206 countries competing across 400 events and 35 different sports in the latest edition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, there has been a lot of changes and positive modifications executed — from allowing two flag bearers (a female athlete and a male athlete) to athletes displaying importance to their mental health such as Simone Biles. The games have also managed to bring a country together just to support their respective national athletes.
Good food is indeed a priority in Belarus. The medal winners would be given free sausages for life. The gold medallists would receive $150,000 for their exceptional performances.
North Korea
This is definitely a nail-biting moment for the athletes. In a do or die situation, the winning athletes would get a bonus, a car or even a house. However, here’s the twist! If they lose the event, under any circumstance, they reportedly would have to face heavy labour in coal mines. This is extremely terrifying.
United States of America
The land of the Star-Spangled Banner pays their winning athletes too — but in a much smaller amount. Gold medallists would receive $37,500, silver medallists would receive $22,500 and bronze medallists would receive $15,000 for their hard-earned achievement. American medallists would have to pay state and federal taxes on the prize money awarded and the winners of the gold and silver medalists would be taxed on the value of the medals themselves! However, the value of a bronze medal is too negligible to be taxed.
Nevertheless, winning and losing is definitely part of any sporting event. The athletes at the Tokyo Olympics have achieved so much by just participating in the games as it’s definitely difficult to qualify for the Olympics. Regardless of the rewards given to our national athletes, we should feel proud of them for representing our country. Let’s cheer them on!
