Olympics Prize Money: Athletes who win medals in the Olympic Games are often seen getting showered with money. But have you ever heard that an athlete has received crores of rupees not for winning a gold medal but for coming close to winning a medal? Actually, the Tokyo Olympics were organized in 2021, in which Saudi Arabian Karate Master Tareg Hamidi won a silver medal. All countries give prize money to their athletes for winning medals, but this Karate athlete received crores of rupees for some other reason.
Actually, Saudi Arabia has been participating in the last fourteen Olympics, but till date no athlete from this country has been able to win a gold medal. So when Tareg Hamidi won the silver medal in the men’s heavyweight karate competition at the Tokyo Olympics, he became a hero for the people of Saudi Arabia overnight. Perhaps even Hamidi did not know that this silver medal was going to make him very rich.
10 crores received as reward
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had told Taregh Hamidi at that time that even though he won the silver medal, he is a gold medalist in the eyes of the whole country. After that, a report revealed that Hamidi received a reward of $1.33 million, which is about Rs 10 crore in Indian currency at that time.
There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia pays a huge amount of money to its athletes as reward. In comparison, if we talk about America, the most successful country in the Olympics, it gives $37,500 i.e. about Rs 31 lakh to the athletes who win gold medals. Saudi Arabia has won only 4 medals in the history of Olympic Games till date. This country could not win even a single medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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