Which country rewards athletes best for Olympic success?

Winning an Olympic gold medal can mean triumph, national pride, self-fulfillment and the reward for a life of sacrifice.

Often, it also means cold, hard cash.

For the top countries participating in this year’s Rio Summer Olympics, a gold medal can fetch a handsome reward. Italy, Russia and France give each of their gold medalists $180,000, $135,000 and $65,000, respectively. China, for its part, rewards their top players with $31,400 per gold medal, while the United States gives out $25,000 for each gold medalist.

For countries who have been struggling to clinch at least a gold or two, governments offer a much higher incentive.

Singapore

A Singaporean athlete can get a whopping 1 million Singapore dollars, or $746,000, for winning gold under its Multi-Million Dollar Awards Program. While no one has won the prize yet, a few athletes have been rewarded for getting silver ($378,000) and bronze ($188,000).

Taiwan Taiwanese Olympic gold medal winners can get as much as 20 million New Taiwan Dollars, or $640,000, while silver medalists earn $223,000 and a bronze medalists earn $160,000.
Indonesia The Indonesian government announced a cash prize of 5 billion Indonesian rupiah, or almost $384,000, for gold medalists. Silver and bronze winners will get two billion rupiah, or $152,000, and one billion rupiah, or $76,000, respectively.
Thailand Thailand reportedly guarantees a 10 million baht cash incentive for gold medalists, which is around $287,000. A silver medalist gets 6 million baht, or $172,000. The private sector often adds cash prizes too, usually amounting to additional millions of Thai baht.
 Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan gold medalists await a huge payday on top of the government-backed incentive of 400,000 Azerbaijani manat, which is almost $250,000. A silver medalist gets 200,000 AZN ($124,000), while bronze fetches 100,000 AZN ($62,000).
Kazakhstan In Kazakhstan, gold medal winners reportedly receive 86 million Kazakhstani tenge, or around $250,000. Silver wins 50 million KZT ($150,000), while bronze gets 25 million KZT ($75,000).
The Philippines Filipino athletes who bring home a gold medal are granted 10 million Philippine pesos, or $215,000. Silver medalists get 5 million PHP ($107,000), and bronze medalists get 2 million PHP each ($43,000).
India India announced that gold medalists will be rewarded with 10,000,000 Indian rupees, which is around $150,000. Silver medalists are awarded 7,500,000 Indian rupees, or about $112,000, and the bronze medalists are awarded 5,000,000 Indian rupees, or about $75,000.
South Korea In South Korea, gold medalists receive 60 million won, or about $55,000. Silver medalists earn 30 million won, about $27,000, and bronze medalists win 18 million won, or about $16,000. However, South Korean coaches are actually awarded even more money than the athletes.
On the lower end of the scale, countries like Australia and Canada only award their gold medalists $15,000 each. However, Great Britain doesn’t award their athletes any money. Instead, they get their face on a stamp, but they may receive sponsorship contracts worth more than most higher paying countries. Others  countries are

• Moldova: $132,000 one-off payment
• Romania: $79,000 + monthly income for life
• Malaysia: Cash bonus + $1,200 monthly payment for life
• Nigeria: $2,000 one-off payment