Cash for Gold

Am I the most naive man on the planet?  How could I have missed this all these years?

I had absolutely NO idea that medal winners at The Olympics get cash bonuses ... and they get taxed on them!  And they get taxed on the medals themselves as well!

Holy cow!  I had NO idea.

I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense to me.  Not so much the taxes part, because that is what it is.  We get taxed on everything, and in the scheme of things with all the potential paid endorsements that come from wining this is just trump change.

But to get a cash bonus for winning a global amateur contest that has been around for centuries just seems, well, off brand.  Off the Olympics brand that is.  The athletes are in it for the sport and the glory of being the best in the world.  Throwing in a cash incentive just seems off strategy to me.

Am I looking at this wrong?  What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe North America
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU