Olympic Gold Medals Not Actually Gold

[WEL]

I was reading yesterday that the prize medals at the Rio Olympics aren't actually solid gold. They are something like silver with six grams of gold plating.

I gotta say...I do find that rather cheap. If you train hard for years, you should be able to get real gold, not some plated nonsense.

[disneysteve]

I was reading yesterday that the prize medals at the Rio Olympics aren't actually solid gold.

Did you seriously think those huge medals were solid gold? Each one would cost thousands of dollars. Each medal weighs about 1/3 of a pound. Gold is about $1,300/ounce. So that would be over $6,000 each.

[Singuy]

The U.S actually gives out 25k for every gold medal recipient. This number is actually pretty sad compared to other countries(Singapore award their gold recipients 757k! and Malaysia will give you a solid gold bar valued at 600k). But I guess this make sense since the U.S grab gold medals like candy.

[msomnipotent]

I read that they get paid by the Olympic committee, and get taxed by the US for the payment and the value of the medals. I forgot the amounts, but it sounded substantial. I know it was in the thousands.

[disneysteve]

The U.S actually gives out 25k for every gold medal recipient. This number is actually pretty sad compared to other countries(Singapore award their gold recipients 757k! and Malaysia will give you a solid gold bar valued at 600k). But I guess this make sense since the U.S grab gold medals like candy.

The US also sends a much larger team than most other countries.

[sv2007]

I was reading yesterday that the prize medals at the Rio Olympics aren't actually solid gold. They are something like silver with six grams of gold plating.

I gotta say...I do find that rather cheap. If you train hard for years, you should be able to get real gold, not some plated nonsense.

I think most people view medal for the things it stands for and not for the actual $ value.