<p>I’m guessing taxes aren’t an issue for these athletes. The trainers, the gym fees, equipment charges, medical bills, etc, before they get to the level where the Olympic Committee picks up the tab - I would think all those expenses they incur, which must be enormous, would pretty much always put them into a position where their expenses are higher than the amounts they earn from winning a medal, giving them sizeable write-offs against income. (I’m not counting endorsements, etc., just the medal money itself.) I’m not a tax expert, so if someone knows the subject, please weigh in.</p>
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<p>Right-o. That puts them in lower tax brackets, but otherwise the math is the same. They all end up coming out ahead financially because their income goes up by the value of the honorarium, less the percentage of the honorarium that goes to taxes. </p>
<p>Apparently one member of the U.S. track team says he makes only $25K per year. If he wins a gold medal he makes $50,650 (his regular earnings, plus the honorarium, plus the value of the medal) which I believe still leaves him in the 15% tax bracket. If he’s single and takes the standard deduction ($5,950) and personal exemption ($9,750) his taxable income is then $34,950, which at a 15% marginal tax rate means he’ll pay $5,242.50 in income taxes. So his after-tax income goes up to $45,407.50, from $23,605 if he hadn’t won the medal. In other words, his after-tax income roughly doubles.</p>
<p>All these medal-winners, regardless of their income levels and tax brackets, are going to be financially better off even after paying the taxes on their winnings. That’s just a mathematical certainty, because the tax will always be just a fraction of the additional income that comes from the winnings. And that’s true even if the honoraria push them into a higher tax bracket, because the higher marginal tax rate applies only to the income above the level that’s taxed at the higher rate. So unless they’re foolish and just go out and spend their winnings before stopping to think that they’re going to need to pay taxes on it, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to pay the taxes they owe.</p>
<p>I think Marco Rubio is just trying to invent a problem that doesn’t exist by playing on popular ignorance about how taxes work. Winning an honorarium and paying taxes on it is just about exactly as bad for you as getting a raise or going out and getting a higher-paying job or winning the lottery. Sure, your taxes will go up, but your taxes won’t go up nearly as much as your income goes up. And that’s bad for you, how?</p>
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<p>Well, that’s not exactly a similar analogy. There’s a shootout to determine the winner of the game, to end that particular match but in a tournament, when teams are tied in points, they do use prior game/scoring criteria/goal differential to determine the tiebreaker, which is similar to what is happening in the gymnastics.</p>
<p>
Oh yes. It was sunny at the rowing and there were thousands of people there. I thought Windsor would be manic but it was deserted in town (possibly because everyone was watching the rowing and non-Olympic tourists have been scared away). I was able to drive up to the venue (my friend took my car home and picked us all up later as there was no parking allowed) and was almost the only car on the road. I had category D tickets (tickets are AA-E, with E the worst) but the seats were great. Right opposite the big screen. There were 4 stands. 3 were full, one was completely empty. I guess that was for the “Olympic family” whoever they are. I did notice some of the spectators just came for one single race, then once they had seen the one person they were supporting, they left. So this will account for some empty seats too. We sat right behind the families of the Polish rowing team including some adorable little children who were there to watch their parents.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to rowing before. We couldn’t see the first kilometer of the course really so for each race for the first 3 minutes or so we just listened to commentary. The Brits love anything to do with boats and excitement was at fever pitch. Most of the crowd were much more knowledgeable than me. There were flags from lots of countries, including some who were not in the rowing.</p>
<p>Got caught in manic traffic due to the Wiggo fans. You may never have heard of it but 300,000 people went to see the Tour de France champion win the cycling time trial.</p>
<p>For the swimming I arrived at Olympic park at 8am in case there were security queues at the entrance. I was through security by 8.03am… So we decided to walk round Olympic Park. There is a canal going through the middle and the royal barge (which the Queen traveled on during the jubilee pageant) is there. Flower meadows and a picnic area surrounding this. Absolutely no cover from the rain (and it has rained every day a bit. Not unusual) apart from a few table umbrellas outside McDonalds (I took sandwiches so I did not try the food. However I did note there was a lot of Indian food and also a hog roast. Very London).</p>
<p>I was in the cheap seats for swimming. The cameras are on level 2. They never show level 3. I had to go up 8 flights of stairs to get to row 1 of level 3, and my seat was in row 55! The atmosphere was electric and really LOUD! It was lots of fun. Many children there too.</p>
<p>Central London in a ghost town! I’ve never know the tube so quiet. Everyone is working from home to avoid the promised transport disaster. But all transport is working like clockwork. On the flip side, East London is packed, especially the boring Westfield shopping centre (I would never choose to go there!).</p>
<p>Michael Phelps just said Obama called him to wish him well.</p>
<p>Chad le clos’ dad gave a fabulous interview on UK TV, with Claire Baldwin. It might be on You Tube.</p>
<p>Bloomberg reports that Gabby Douglas is assured a six-figure income post-Olympics and has signed a deal with Proctor and Gamble.
Phelps reportedly made $10mill in 2010.
I guess it’s not so much in the winnings (see Woods, T.) but in the unbelievable endorsements.
PS I don’t begrudge them a penny.</p>
<p>What a fun experience, cupcake!</p>
<p>Did everyone see this story?</p>
<p>[Chinese</a> gold-medalist diver’s parents hid mother’s breast cancer for eight years - CBSSports](<a href=“Winter Olympics - Olympics News, Scores, Stats, Standings, and Rumors - CBSSports.com”>Winter Olympics - Olympics News, Scores, Stats, Standings, and Rumors - CBSSports.com)</p>
<p>I’m not understanding the idea of why an olympian’s earnings should be treated differently than anyone else’s earnings. That said, I wonder if they can set things up to deduct expenses from the earnings … will the USOC pay the bonus to a corporation?</p>
<p>Just as a matter of personal opinion, I think that the money earned in the actual representation of our country at the Olympics shouldn’t be taxable. I can see the other side, but I really, really, really don’t think the actual medal should be taxable.</p>
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<p>I just hope Gabby gets a good financial adviser. She’ll rake it in for a few years, but when you’re America’s sweetheart at that age the glory tends to fade pretty quickly, and the income along with it. She just needs to sock most of it away into sound, long-term investments and, one hopes, a good college education.</p>
<p>Zoosermom is right, though, most of these athletes won’t be earning millions, even gold medalists. Gold medals in women’s gymnastics are worth a lot. In swimming it probably takes multiple gold medals; Phelps may make $10 mill, but a swimmer who wins, say, one gold and two silvers is probably not going to be able to cash in big-time. Basketball? Those guys are already famous and loaded and swimming in product endorsement fees, so I’m not sure a gold medal adds all that much to their income; on the women’s side a gold might be worth something, especially to the player or two who has an outstanding Olympics. Soccer? Possibly for a few players if the U.S. wins gold. Track & field? Sometimes a few stars emerge; most labor in anonymity. </p>
<p>So I suspect the honorarium really is valuable to a lot of these athletes.</p>
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<p>That’s because there really isn’t a good reason to treat it differently. It is being raised for reasons completely unrelated to concern over the Olympians.</p>
<p>zoosermom - exactly!!</p>
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Since I’m one of the people who objected in this thread, please don’t speak for me.</p>
<p>As I said previously, I think money earned representing the country should be treated differently. Feel free to disagree.</p>
<p>“I just hope Gabby gets a good financial adviser. She’ll rake it in for a few years, but when you’re America’s sweetheart at that age the glory tends to fade pretty quickly, and the income along with it. She just needs to sock most of it away into sound, long-term investments and, one hopes, a good college education.”</p>
<p>Like this? </p>
<p>[Debi</a> Thomas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debi_Thomas]Debi”>Debi Thomas - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>“…After her figure skating career,…She graduated from Stanford University in 1991 with a degree in engineering and from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997. …In June 2005, Thomas graduated from the Orthopaedic Residency Program at Charles R. Drew University in Los Angeles. … In July 2006, she began a one-year fellowship …for sub-specialty training in adult reconstructive surgery.”</p>
<p>Shameless pride…</p>
<p>Bruce Jenner, anyone??</p>
<p>Posting from a mall with free wifi right outside the Olympic village! Saw basketball earlier and matches of Federer/Sharapova yesterday at Wimbledon (the other matches weren’t as big of names, or the basketball teams).</p>
<p>Anyone else travel from the U.S. to the games? What have you/ will you see?</p>
<p>Just watched South Africa win in rowing. What an exciting race. They came out of nowhere to beat GB.</p>
<p>Cupcake, lucky you. Sounds like both events were a blast to attend. Ditto to Alliance!</p>
<p>I missed all the swimming as I’d forgotten I had a hair appt. this afternoon. :(</p>
<p>H knew a woman who won a gold medal in diving a couple of decades ago. After modeling swimsuits for a while, she works as a secretary. </p>
<p>A gold medal is not a guarantee of income for life. </p>
<p>All these athletes should save while they can.</p>
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<p>It makes me happy when they use their Olympic medal as a hook to get into a really good college. (Disappointed that Alicia Sacramone left Brown after two years.)</p>
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<p>Not that it matters, but that still make no sense. If two kids are tied for third place, there is no fourth. If three kids are tied for third, there is no fourth nor fifth. Ties always get awarded the highest ranking they earned, not the lowest. </p>
<ol>
<li>A</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>C</li>
<li>D</li>
<li>E</li>
</ol>
<p>or </p>
<ol>
<li>A</li>
<li>B</li>
<li>C</li>
<li>D</li>
<li>E</li>
<li>F</li>
</ol>
<p>PS Look at the USNews when it comes out in a few weeks for tied rankings. As in the American Best Colleges aka the real US Olympics, with bad rules, dishonest judges, and controversial results galore! ;)</p>