Russia increases reward for Olympic medal winners

Agencies Posted online: Thursday , July 24, 2008 at 01:06:14 Moscow, July 24: In a step to motivate Beijing-bound athletes, the Russia Olympic Committee (ROC) has decided to increase the reward for medal winners at next month's Olympic Games, although the government approval is still pending. Since the 1996 games in Atlanta, the ROC has awarded USD 50,000 to gold-medal winners, but will splash out close to USD 160,000 to the nation's Olympic champions. Bonuses for silver and bronze medals will increase more than fourfold to 60,000 and 40,000 euros respectively, from previous USD 20,000 and USD 10,000. "The Russian government must still approve the proposal, but it should be done in the next few days as everything has already been agreed," ROC spokesman Gennady Shvets was quoted as saying by the media. According to ROC... [read full story]