Monetization of the Olympic success – that's how much the medals are worth

 

From the Hungarian point of view, one of the most successful Olympics of recent decades has come to an end. The Hungarian athletes have won 20 medals – six golds, seven silvers, and seven bronzes – in Tokyo.

The Hungarian Olympic successes have never been paid higher than they are now. An Olympic gold is worth exactly 50 million forints (~141,789 EUR), a silver is worth 35.7 million forints (~101,238 EUR), and bronze is worth 28.5 million forints (~80,820EUR). In international comparison, there are the sixth-highest amounts. Also, even the Olympic eighth place was awarded, so the performance of the Hungarian team is worth a total of 2.39 billion forints (~6,777,528 EUR) in Hungary.

For comparison, this figure was 1.7 billion HUF (~4,820,836EUR) after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

There was always a kind of monetary reward for Olympic success, but these increased substantially after the regime change. After the 1992 Barcelona Games, a gold medal was worth 1.5 million forints each, but four and eight years later, in Atlanta and Sydney, respectively, the prize was 6.5 million forints. After the turn of the millennium, the amount started to rise even further, jumping to 10 million forints for the 2004 Athens Games and 20 million forints for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The state rewards for Olympic victories in London and Rio de Janeiro were regulated by a government decree, which guaranteed benefits for athletes who finished in the top eight. Gold medalists received 35, silver medalists earned 25, and bronze medalists got 20 million forints, but a 2-million-forint prize was awarded to the eighth-place athletes as well. For example, three-time Olympic champion Katinka Hosszú earned 136.4 million HUF at the Summer Games five years ago.

Tamara Csipes, who won gold in the women's K-4 500 meters and silver in the K-1 500 meters, took home the most money this year. She also finished fourth in the K-2 500m event in the same boat with Erika Medveczky. This means a total of 107.2 million HUF for her. Hosszú, who competed in the Tokyo Olympics practically without a coach, still received 20 million forints thanks to her fifth and seventh place finishes.

This means that it's no longer needed to win an Olympic medal to earn a nice sum. However, the system has become fairer because to win a scoring place or a finals appearance, the athlete has the same years of amazing work, energy, and resignation, which the system rightly remunerates.

The perceived or real disproportion has occurred for a long time in the successes achieved as a team because the members of a doubles event, an individual sport's team of 3-8-athletes, and team competitors earning a ranking were entitled to ninety percent, eighty percent and seventy percent of the total amount, respectively. But that has also changed now. With the women's and men's water polo teams winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as the women's handball team finishing seventh, they all receive full remuneration.

But it's not only this special support why the construction of a sports career in Hungary now offers a serious perspective, but also the institution of the Olympic life annuity, which was introduced at the initiative of Olympic champion boxer György Gedó. He was in a bad financial situation at the time, so he spoke out for this reason, and the government has been paying the champions over 35 and their widow(er)s out since January 1, 1998.

The amount of the annuity is always adjusted to the average annual salary determined by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, which means the amount is constantly increasing. Currently, it's 329,000 HUF, and silver and bronze medalists can take seventy and fifty percent of this per medal.

About 900 people enjoy the benefits of the system.

 

Translated by Vanda Orosz.