Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:02:36 GMT | By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
What countries pay the most for an Olympic medal?

Great Britain

Britain's Denise Lewis holds up her gold medal for the women's heptathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. (© Thomas Kienzle/AP Photo)
Next
Previous
Previous
  • From $0 to more than $150,000, medal bonuses vary greatly by country. (© Sang Tan/AP Photo)
  • Britain's Denise Lewis holds up her gold medal for the women's heptathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. (© Thomas Kienzle/AP Photo)
  • Germany's Robert Bartko waves after receiving the gold medal in the men's individual pursuit in track cycling at Dunc Gray Velodrome at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. (© Laurent Rebours/AP Photo)
  • Canadian ice dance gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. (© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)
  • Australia's Cathy Freeman stands center with her gold medal for the women's 400 meter race alongside silver medal winner Lorraine Graham of Jamaica, right, and bronze medal winner Katharine Merry, of Great Britain during medal awards ceremonies at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. (© Thomas Kienzle/AP Photo)
  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson whips the United States flag in ecstasy during the gold medal ceremony during the 1992 Summer Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain. (© Susan Ragan/File/AP Photo)
  • Gold medalist Liu Xuan of China at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. (© Amy Sancetta/AP Photo)
  • Japan's Ryoko Tani holds her bronze medal following the medal ceremony for the women's judo extra lightweight division at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. (© Charles Dharapak/ File/AP Photo)
Next
Thomas Kienzle/AP PhotoShow Thumbnails
Previous2 of 11Next
Share this Gallery

Great Britain
Gold medal bonus: $0

Of the major medal hopefuls at this summer's London Olympics, the only nation that does not offer its athletes cash incentives is Great Britain. The Summer Games' host country, projected to win as many as 22 medals, is catching a lot of flak for not paying a bonus to winners. In response, a British Olympic Association spokesman claims such financial rewards "do not significantly impact the motivation of an athlete to reach the ... podium." Some select Olympians may be eligible to have their likeness put on a Royal Mail stamp after the Games, for which they'd be paid about $16,000, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

* Video: Special traffic lanes created for Olympic lanes

Image Search for Great Britain Olympic team on Bing
Image
Previous 1 of 1 Next
loading
See more results results by

Money videos

In focus

Have your say

How many credit cards should one person have?

Thanks for being one of the first people to vote. Results will be available soon. Check for results

  1. 73 %
    Just one. Credit cards should only be used for emergency situations.
    11,616 votes
  2.  
    16 %
    As many as you can. Credit cards are a great way to make purchases and get great rewards.
    2,597 votes
  3.  
    11 %
    None. You should never buy anything on credit.
    1,722 votes
  4. Skip to results

Total Responses: 15,935
Not scientifically valid. Results are updated every minute.

Recently recommended stories