Stuck in Iowa » Beijing Olympics http://www.stuckiniowa.com It's all about corn, football, and not so many lakes or things to do. Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:27:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Olympic quote of the year! http://www.stuckiniowa.com/olympic-quote-of-the-year/ http://www.stuckiniowa.com/olympic-quote-of-the-year/#comments Sat, 23 Aug 2008 02:13:31 +0000 Smoother http://www.stuckiniowa.com/?p=400 Continue reading →]]> Are Olympic Gold Medals made out of pure gold? The answer… NO!

The medals, which were supposed to be made entirely of gold, were instead found to be composed of 99% lead alloy and coated with a gold-colored lead-based paint.

And without further delay, here’s the Olympic quote of the year!

“I am very, very concerned about my extensive contact with gold medals,” Mr. Phelps told reporters. “But what am I supposed to do? Stop being so awesome?”

Source: Huffington Post

Other posts you might like:
Top earning Beijin Olympics Athletes
What do Olympic athletes earn?

Michael Phelps

image source: sagicel

]]> http://www.stuckiniowa.com/olympic-quote-of-the-year/feed/ 0 Top earning Beijin Olympics Athletes http://www.stuckiniowa.com/top-earning-beijin-olympics-athletes/ http://www.stuckiniowa.com/top-earning-beijin-olympics-athletes/#comments Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:11:47 +0000 Smoother http://www.stuckiniowa.com/?p=398 Continue reading →]]> The other day I was talking about how much money Olympic athletes make. I also found this interesting article at Forbes, The Top-Earning Athletes Of The Beijing Olympics. Here’s a list of the top money makers in USD and their estimated annual income.

  1. Kobe Bryant / USA / Basketball /$39 million
  2. LeBron James / USA / Basketball / $38 million
  3. Ronaldinho / Brazil / Soccer / $37 million
  4. Roger Federer / Switzerland / Tennis / $35 million
  5. Yao Ming / China / Basketball / $28 million
  6. Dwyane Wade / USA / Basketball / $27 million
  7. Maria Sharapova / Russia / Tennis / $26 million
  8. Dirk Nowitzki / Germany / Basketball / $25 million
  9. Jason Kidd / USA / Basketball / $20 million
  10. Pau Gasol / Spain / Basketball / $15 million

See the slideshow here.

Walking Bank Roll

photo courtesy of verybadlady

]]> http://www.stuckiniowa.com/top-earning-beijin-olympics-athletes/feed/ 1 What do Olympic athletes earn? http://www.stuckiniowa.com/what-do-olympic-athletes-earn/ http://www.stuckiniowa.com/what-do-olympic-athletes-earn/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:11:44 +0000 Smoother http://www.stuckiniowa.com/?p=396 Continue reading →]]> How much money do Olympic athletes earn? I’ve been watching the 2008 Beijing Olympics and I’m totally hooked. But what about their lives beyond the Olympic events? I’ve always wondered how much money Olympic athletes make so I decided to do some searching. Financial support varies from country to country so I’ll take a look at Team USA because I’m from the United States of America.

I read this PDF file from TeamUSA.org that has a lot of information about stipends, bonuses, and reimbursement. Here are the main money makers once you reach the Olympics.

Gold Medal: $25,000
Silver Medal: $15,000
Bronze Medal: $10,000

Here’s a quick breakdown of what each Olympic Athlete from the U.S. gets for the Beijing 2008 Olympics :

  • Competition & Camp Expenses (airline – United VIK, room/board &
    accreditation fees)
  • Monthly Stipends
  • Performance Incentives
  • OTC Resident Program
  • Elite Athlete Health Insurance (EAHI)
  • NIKE Apparel

Monthly stipends range from $250-2000 per month, so I’m sure a lot of athletes have jobs while they’re training. This is only what the country is giving athletes, but there’s a lot more money to be made with endorsement deals and bonuses. Speedo, the swimming gear brand, awarded a $1 million bonus to Michael Phelps for breaking Mark Spitz’s 1972 gold medal record of seven gold medals in single Olympics events (from CNBC) and 21 year old Jamaican, Usain Bolt, received a $1.8 million bonus from his sponsor Digicel for breaking the 100 meter race world record back in May (picture).

Some related 2008 Olympic Posts:
That guy was always fast
Olympic quote of the year!
$$$ Top earning Beijin Olympics Athletes

Get more information about the Olympics Team USA at TeamUSA.org, see the final Beijing overall medal count here and here’s the count sorted by Gold medals. (Image above is courtesy of geckoam)

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