The Paris Olympics 2024 is in full swing, with numerous countries competing in a variety of events. A total of 117 Indian athletes are vying for medals this year. The games, which started on July 26, will conclude on August 11.
Indian athletes will compete in 69 medal events across 16 sports at the Paris 2024 Olympics. These sports include archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and tennis.
Manu Bhaker won the first medal for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics, claiming a bronze and becoming the first Indian woman to secure an Olympic shooting medal.?Many might assume that Olympic winners receive substantial financial rewards that set them up for life, but the reality is kind of subjective.
Interestingly, winning a gold, silver, or bronze medal doesn't automatically come with financial rewards. The International Olympic Committee does not provide monetary prizes, so any additional rewards depend on the athlete's home country.
Instead of prize money, the IOC allocates 90 percent of its income to national Olympic committees and international federations.
In a statement to CNN, the IOC said, "This means that, every day, the equivalent of $ 4.2 million (Rs 35 crore approx) goes to help athletes and sports organizations at all levels around the world. It is up to each IF and NOC to determine how to best serve their athletes and the global development of their sport."
Every country internally decides the cash prize that is awarded to the winners as immense effort, hard work, and determination is required to win an Olympic medal. In India, medalists receive a hero's welcome and are handsomely rewarded by both the government and the apex federation. Over time, these rewards have become increasingly generous.
If we talk about the last Olympics which took place in Tokyo, Japan in 2021, six players mounted the podium. Apart from the national cash prize, their respective state governments also honored them with handsome payouts:
Neeraj Chopra: Gold, javelin throw ¡ª Rs 6 crore (Haryana)
Ravi Kumar Dahiya: Silver, wrestling ¡ª Rs 4 crore (Haryana)
Mirabai Chanu: Silver, weightlifting ¡ª Rs 1 crore (Manipur)
Lovlina Borgohain: Bronze, boxing ¡ª Rs 1 crore (Assam)
PV Sindhu: Bronze, badminton ¡ª Rs 30 lakh (Telengana)
Bajrang Punia: Bronze, wrestling ¡ª Rs 25 lakh (Haryana)
That¡¯s not all! The Indian government awarded Rs 75 lakh to gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, Rs 50 lakh each to silver medalists Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Mirabai Chanu, and Rs 30 lakh each to bronze medalists Lovlina Borgohain, PV Sindhu, Bajrang Punia, and the Indian hockey team.These amounts, however, were not the official rewards. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had set the following prize money structure for the Tokyo Olympics:
Gold: Rs 75 lakh
Silver: Rs 40 lakh
Bronze: Rs 25 lakh
Cut to Paris Olympics 2024, this time the athletes will see a substantial increase in the rewards from the previous edition as the IOC has changed the payout structure as per several reports. While there has been no official confirmation on the same the payouts are likely to be as:
Gold: Rs 1 crore
Silver: Rs 75 lakh
Bronze: Rs 50 lakh
Just like other editions, the athletes are likely to receive generous rewards from the Indian government and? state governments. Going by the tentative details,?Manu Bhaker has bagged Rs 50 lakh after securing a Bronze medal.?Bhaker, who became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal with her 10m air pistol individual bronze added another bronze to her name on day four of Paris Olympics 2024. Going by the math, the prize money should be doubled. The actual figure remains undisclosed, as of now.
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