Uganda is still in celebratory mood after bagging four medals (two gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze) at the recently concluded Olympic Games that took place in Tokyo, Japan.
To many people, this should translate into huge earnings for the athletes.
However, athletes don’t get paid for taking part in the Olympic Games, or winning. Instead, competing at the games is for prestige.
But they are paid for taking part in other events such as Diamond League circuits in athletics, soccer or basketball leagues, every year.
Nevertheless, many countries offer monetary rewards to their athletes for the number of medals they win at the Olympics.
Some countries, according to the New York Times, give stipends, houses, lifetime supplies of beer, free flights or even exemptions from mandatory military service.
At the current Games, Singapore is paying the most for medals. Any Gold is worth $737,000 (Shs2.7b), $369,000 (Shs1.3b) for Silver and bronze comes with $184,000 (Shs680m) in prize money.
For the Tokyo Olympics, a United States medallist receives $37,500 (Shs132m) for gold, $22,500 (Shs79m) for silver and $15,000 (Shs53m), for bronze.
The prize money is taxable and awardees are required to return a portion of it to their national sports associations for future training and development.
In Uganda, the President often gives excelling sportsmen and women gifts that range from cars, houses and cash.
On Wednesday, the President gave out cars to the medal winners in the games.
He added that Ugandan sports men and women who earned Uganda a gold medal at a continental level, commonwealth or Olympic games will be paid a monthly salary of Shs5 million.
According to the President, silver medalists in any of the three categories will each earn Shs3 million per month while bronze medalists will be paid Shs1 million.