I'm Brittany Lewis, a reporter here at Forbes.

Joining me now is my Forbes colleague, staff writer, Justin Birnbaum.

Justin, thanks so much for coming on.

Thanks for having me, Brittany.

The Olympics are fully underway.

And aside from bringing your country tremendous honor when you win an Olympic medal, you're reporting that some countries are offering a six-figure payday.

So first, let's start right at home.

If an American athlete takes home gold, how much money are they earning, and who's paying for it?

Sure.

So the medal bonuses for the United States are paid out by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Gold earns you $37,500, just shy of $40,000.

And the important thing to note about the gold medals or any of the medal bonuses with the United States is that they do not divvy it up.

If you win a medal, you get the fully ascribed bonus for that, whereas other nations, you know, have different amounts or will divvy up the bonuses if you're in a team setting or something like that.

So let's talk about those other medals.

Let's say you take home silver or bronze.

What's your payday look like?

For the U.S., silver will net you $22,500, bronze $15,000.

Like I said before, you know, every member of a team would get that bonus as opposed to it being divvied up or anything like that.

And yeah.

Let's say you go to the Olympic Games as an American athlete.

You compete, but you come home empty-handed.

Do you get any money just for participating?

So I just want to be clear, you know, those bonuses are explicit cash prizes for winning a medal.

That's not to say the USOPC and other governing bodies don't offer benefits in the form of, you know, grants or health insurance or health benefits.

So there are other things associated with, you know, competing at the Olympics.

If you're talking explicit cash bonuses, then yes, in the case of the United States, you have to get on the podium.

Other nations, including some that we'll talk about, you know, pay out to places that don't necessarily end up on the podium.

But yeah, to get an explicit cash bonus for the United States, you have to be gold medal, silver medal or bronze medal.

Talk about how other countries and territories compare to America when paying out their athletes.

Do all athletes who medal get paid equally?

So that is at the discretion of the National Olympic Committees or the sports ministries for the many nations competing.

So Forbes reached out to all 206 countries and territories participating in the Olympics.

We were able to confirm that 33 do pay cash prizes for medal bonuses, and of those 33, 15 pay over six figures.

So it can really depend on where you're from, how well you do in terms of monetary and financial compensation from the Olympics.

But yeah, I mean, there are other benefits there.

It varies widely from country to country, and it really comes down to what the National Olympic Committee or their sports ministry decide.

We'll talk about those other benefits in a moment.

But before that, you said some countries, 15 to be exact, are paying six figures for a gold medal.

Who's paying the most?

Yeah, to be clear, we were able to confirm 15.

You know, it's possible that other nations could be and we just, you know, were unable to confirm that.

So of the countries that we confirm this information with, Hong Kong is the leader in the clubhouse.

They offer nearly $800,000 for a gold medal, which is just a stunning number there.

What's funny is, you know, in our data, Israel and Serbia came after them, paying just over about $200,000.

And if you earn a silver with Hong Kong, that pays about $380,000, which is more than gold medals for many of these other countries.

Clearly it's a good day to be an Olympic medal winner for one of these countries or territories.

But do you know why these countries pay their athletes, their winning athletes rather, so much money compared to others?

Yeah, I think all this comes down to, you know, what the National Olympic Committees and the sports ministries for these nations and territories decide.

You know, in some cases, the bonuses are paid out by the National Olympic Committee, some by the sports ministries, some by both.

National pride is a huge thing.

Different countries, you know, like to show their gratitude for success on the stage in different ways.

And it's really, it is at the discretion, you know, different countries are going to do things differently, probably has a little to do with resources too and what they can and can't do.

But, you know, it really comes down to just how these countries and territories want to do these things.

I know we've been focusing the conversation talking about these cash prizes, but are there any other benefits that countries award Olympic athletes who medal and some that just participate?

So to be clear, some countries will pay out beyond the podium, meaning there are cash prizes even if you don't come in first, second, or third.

Others, in some cases, there are monthly allowances that will continue whether it's the end of the Olympic cycle or if it's, you know, for life.

Serbia offers a pension.

Also, New Zealand has a $40,000 bonus for gold medalists that they get paid annually for an entire Olympic cycle, so in the end that actually ends up being more than six figures as well, even though it's not at once.

Denmark offers a relatively small bonus of $15,000, but it's tax-free, which in a nation like that with a high tax rate is like a really crucial point.

And then you have Poland, which has kind of a really unique and interesting slew of benefits.

If you medal for Poland, you get a painting from a talented and respected Polish artist, investment-grade diamond, vacation voucher for two, and either a one-room or a two-room apartment, I'm sorry, bedroom apartment in the Warsaw metropolitan area.

So, yeah, they have a really unique package.

I mean, that sounds like something, a prize package you would win on the price is right, but medal recipients in some countries like Norway, Iceland, and Sweden are not financially compensated.

Did they give you a reason as to why not?

Yeah, I can point out the answer we got from Sweden because it ended up being in the article, but we had communicated with the Swedish Olympic Committee and they had pointed out that they support their athletes throughout their entire Olympic cycle.

And it's not necessarily just tying it to the results of the Olympics.

And I think that's a salient point.

In a lot of cases, many of these delegations offer their athletes grants, other benefits to train, to keep themselves going through these cycles.

It is not easy to be an Olympic athlete and it's not cheap.

And I think in a lot of cases, you'll see that some of these delegations just interpret their priorities different.

But like Sweden said, we support them throughout the Olympic cycle, so we don't just want to solely reward them.

We want to reward them throughout the process.

And the United Kingdom is another one.

And what's interesting is while they don't offer medal bonuses, they have governing bodies that do.

Their track and field governing body, which is called British Athletics, offers medal bonuses.

I do want to turn the conversation back to the United States.

And obviously, $30,000 is just a drop in the bucket for those household name athletes.

Yes, I'm looking at you, LeBron James.

But what does this do to lesser known athletes?

Yeah.

So like I just said, it's not easy being an Olympic athlete.

It's not cheap either.

You're talking about years of training, medical expenses, equipment.

There's a lot of different costs you can rack up.

In a lot of cases, they don't have the multi-million dollar contracts or endorsement deals that a LeBron James or a Devin Booker or Jason Tatum would have.

We look at the NBA team, the slew of NBA players representing USA Basketball.

And we think, wow, they're making millions and millions of dollars.

And they have the means to subsidize themselves.

But there are many athletes representing Team USA who work jobs, who have careers, who have to figure out ways to put food on the table.

And the bonus is a great reward for that.

I mean, depending on the athlete and their financial situation, it could mean more, it could mean less.

But it really is tough to be an Olympic athlete and it costs a lot of money, especially from other nations as well.

So bonuses really do help.

Justin Birnbaum, thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you, Brittany.