So, I always thought the olympics was for the best amatuer athletes in the world to compete. I even remember some people having to give up medals because they were discovered to have done professional work in their field. How is it that in basketball we send our highest paid most "Professional" athletes on our national team to compete? I don't recall ever seeing any professional athletes in any other sport over the years. Anyways, I could care less about basketball but this just makes me wonder how it's allowed. The funny thing is that they are not always that much better than the competition...

 

the amateur olympian fell by the waste side in 1986. many of the athletes who are not professionals in their sport (basketball, baseball, hockey, volleyball, tennis, etc.), get endorsement money from shoe companies and the like- aside from the millions that Michael Phelps will make, when he won his 8th medal, Speedo gave him a $1 million bonus. i think it was a good move, as the U.S. was always behind many other countries who supported their athletes by paying all their bills- basically they were gov't employees whose only job was to train and compete in international competitions.
BTW, the players on the other countries' b-ball teams are pros as well- some play in Europe and some in the NBA.

 

Seems like it's just all a big sham to me. Oh well. Thanks for the explanation. I just saw Venus and Serena getting medals. How can anyone take these games seriously anymore?

 

no different from watching pro baseball and football- just forget about the money they're making, and watch it for the enjoyment of watching sports.
even though they're making money, they're still the best athletes in the world representing their countries, and i still get a lump in my throat when one of the athletes who works at Home Depot gets a medal in a sport that gets almost no attention, and stands on the podium as they play the National Anthem.

 

They just showed the women's 8 person rowing event which the US won.

The announcer stated the Norwegian team (I think) would have earned ~$200,000 a piece from their government if they had won.

The USSR and Chinese used to train their athletes full time from the time they were small children.

So much for amateur athletics............

 

So, do these athletes get any $$$ from the Olympic committee or do they just get the medal?

 

they just get a medal from the IOC, no cash. some countries offer a cash incentive to any athlete who wins a medal, though.

 

Still do, sucks!