German sports finance has often been criticized. Now the focus is back: Athletes in Italy and Poland are paid large sums of money for an Olympic victory, while German athletes have to settle for less.

While sports are already at the top of college in the United States and school students celebrate the achievements of athletes, there is an entirely different system in Germany. Here, too, spectators come to club competitions, but the support for athletes is different. In the United States, athletes can make a living from their profession, but this is not always the case in Germany.

As different as the sporting systems of each individual country, the way you treat the Olympic champions is as diverse as it is.

180 thousand euros in Italy? “It’s a long tradition with us”

In Germany, athletes receive 20 thousand euros from the German Sports Aid Foundation for the gold medal. There are still 15,000 euros for silver and 10,000 euros for bronze. These amounts are only available once. Means: The current Olympic champion Jessica von Prideaux-Werendl does not receive 20 thousand euros twice. Especially since there is an additional rule for team and team athletes. Its premiums are determined “separately by a panel of experts,” DOSB’s logistics department told Ispo.com.

Even if this amount seems to be quite high overall, when compared to other countries it quickly becomes clear that this is not the case. Especially since athletes in Germany have to wait a year after Olympic success for payment – which is then made in twelve monthly instalments.

For comparison: in Italy, the athlete receives a single payment of 180 thousand euros for Olympic gold and an additional 30 thousand euros. Danilo Di Tommaso, head of communications for the Italian Sports Federation, tells t-online: “It’s a very long tradition with us. Every four years we decide how much the athlete gets. We have from 150,000 euros to 180,000 euros for one gold. The medal increased from 75,000 to €90,000 for the silver and €50,000 to €60,000 for the bronze. We have money to invest in the athletes, we want to support them with it.”

Comparison: This is how much money athletes in different countries earn for an Olympic victory. (Source: t-online / t-online.de)

Doppler criticized sports finance

The approach that could be considered by the German Olympic Sports Federation and the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB). Thomas Rohler, the 2016 Olympic javelin thrower, also sees room for improvement in German athletes’ motivation. Röhler on t-online: “The incentive system is certainly something that needs to be scrutinized to a certain extent. Even before the financial discussion, I put the social value of the sport. I think young talents in particular feel very quickly whether the doing and the sporting goals they have are considered worthy by society. striving to achieve it.”

Rohler, who is in frequent contact with young athletes, adds: “For the top up-and-coming athletes, planning for safety is essential. You don’t have to plan for wins. I think it’s hard to build all the sports sponsorship directly through victory awards.” However: “I am definitely one of those who said that Olympic payout for the singles champion is not right. You have to invest a lot of time to achieve something Olympic success so that you can make a living from the sport in the end.” Röhler glaubt: “Das wiederum hat auch Einfluss auf die sportliche Leistung, weil du Zeit investieren musst, die dir im training verloren geht. Wenn der direkte sportliche Payout höher wäre, wäre gewährleistet, dass dassen dassen dassen Sportäll intensive? ability.”

Poland does it very differently

According to “Ispo.com”, more is also being invested in countries such as Poland and Indonesia. In Poland, athletes receive €50,000 plus a tax-free monthly pension for life at 60 percent of average income from the age of 40, and in Indonesia there is a whopping €345,000 for achieving golden success in the Olympics. Singapore makes the highest payment: there should be 630,000 euros for each Olympic champion. That’s more than 31 times the amount the Germans paid for an Olympic gold medal!

Higher payments, especially in Germany, could reverse the current trend: a drop in German medals at the Olympics. In 1992 there were 82 medals for Germany. In 2000 it was 56. In 2016, the German team won only 42 precious metals. There are currently 14 medals in these games (as of July 30, 2021).

“In a country where an Olympic champion receives a bonus of 20,000 euros and the king of the jungle 150,000, one should not be surprised by the lack of medals,” former swimmer Markus Diebler said five years ago. Criticism of the lack of funding for German athletes – this is a topic that is still current.

So Rohler adds to t-online: “If high awards are announced publicly, that is of course a stimulus for aspiring talent. When I go to fifth grade and talk about the Olympics, kids ask for riches. They ask, ‘Are you rich because you’re an Olympic champion?'” “I think an athlete doesn’t have to be rich, but these questions show how young people see the incentive system in sports.”

And this is exactly what should be a warning to the German Olympic Federation and the German sports assistant. Because golden successes start small.