Some Athletes Are Chasing Huge Gold Medal Bonuses

The glory of winning a gold medal is a massive incentive for athletes competing in Tokyo but the impressive bonuses on offer add another more lucrative dimension to the games. The size of the bonus on offer varies hugely by country. For example, British athletes do not receive bonus for winning a gold medal whereas American competitors get $37,500 for every gold they take home, according to CNBC and Nikkei.

Successful athletes from Indonesia are awarded a prize of $346,000 for gold, not a bad day at the office at all. The country just bagged its first gold medals in Tokyo when Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won the women's badminton doubles. Singapore offers its successful Olympians even more cash, around $737,000 - even though this does not include team medals.

Britain, like several other European nations, offers its athletes year-long funding and training but no bumper payout. But some countries who do lump sums also offer monthly payments, sometimes even life-long pensions like Malaysia does.

Private donations sometimes exceed official medal bonuses. Philippine weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who won the country's first ever gold last week, is expected to earn around $600,000 from her win - three times the official bonus - as prominent Filipinos, businesses and even the country's president Rodrigo Duterte have announced they will shower the medalist in cash and gifts.