So I was watching the 2012 London NBC Olympics news coverage, and the reporter Raj was saying that the U.S. government actually pays its athletes who medal in the Olympics. So I was wondering how much and googled it - if you were wondering too, here it is:

[COLOR=#000000]Olympic medal prize money: $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000]The dollar value of the medals themselves, in terms of metal value at today's rates: Gold medal is about $675, silver medal is worth about $385, and bronze medal is worth under $5.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000]And the athletes have to pay tax on both the medal itself and the prize money:[/COLOR]

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[COLOR=#000000]Medal Tax / Prize Tax / Total Tax Burden[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000]Gold: $236 / $8,750 / $8,986[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]Silver: $135 / $5,250 / $5,385[/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000]Bronze: $2 / $3,500 / $3,502[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000]via Americans for Tax Reform : Win Olympic Gold, Pay the IRS[/COLOR]

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