Plenty of gold waiting for Chinese medalists
How much is an Olympic gold medal worth? For China’s newest sports stars, fresh from triumph in Athens and idolized by a sports-crazy public, the country’s ongoing rush to capitalism means they can cash in like never before.
China, in its best Olympic showing, won 32 gold medals at the Athens Games, second only to the United States. The surprise result earned high praise from China’s government, which called on all Chinese to learn from the athletes.
“The motherland is proud of you, and the people are proud of you.”
For the stars of Athens, the central government has promised prizes of up to $24,000 for Olympic medalists, and individual provinces also plan to rain cash on their local stars, the official People’s Daily newspaper said in its online edition.
Yunnan, for example, will give weightlifter Zhang Guozheng $180,000 for being the first from the province to capture Olympic gold.
Another cycling medal for U.S.
The International Olympic Committee’s decision to award Erin Mirabella a bronze medal gave the U.S. its biggest cycling medal haul since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Mirabella was named the medalist for the women’s points race, a decision that gave USA Cycling four medals in Athens. American riders took three medals away from both Atlanta and Sydney.
Mirabella finished behind Colombia’s Maria Luisa Calle Williams in Wednesday’s race. Williams, though, tested positive for Heptaminol, a prohibited stimulant that she denied taking.
Still, the IOC stripped the Colombian of her medal and diploma and ordered them immediately returned.
Exit stage right
Thousands of athletes, sports officials and visitors to Athens began leaving the Greek capital Monday in a mass exodus.
Athens International Airport said it had scheduled a record 900 flights and expected more than 9,000 athletes and Olympic officials to leave by the end of the day. Over 11,000 athletes from 202 countries participated in the Athens Games.
American athlete charged
A U.S. Olympic volleyball player was charged with assault Monday, accused of hitting a pregnant woman during a scuffle.
Police identified him as Clayton Stanley, who lives in Greece and plays for a local team.
He was ordered held pending the trial.
Check please
The 2004 Olympics that ended Sunday were the biggest and most expensive, with 11,100 athletes from 202 countries competing in 28 sports. The cost so far has run to at least $8.5 billion. No country could ever afford to host a sports event on such a massive scale were it not for corporate sponsorship.
In Athens, the corporate sponsorship program yielded $685.6 million, covering 29 percent of the organizers budget.