The Most Expensive Olympic Medals Per Host Country REVEALED
With the Summer Olympics starting July 23rd in Tokyo, Japan, finance company Loan Bird has analysed the overall cost to host nations of the past 15 Olympics to reveal which nation received the best cost per medal for their Olympic event hosting.
Most Expensive Cost Per Medal Olympics For Host Nations
|
City |
Country |
Olympic Year |
Cost To Host Contry ($) |
Cost Per Medal ($) |
|
Sochi |
Russia |
2014 |
51,000,000,000 |
1,545,454,545.45 |
|
Nagano |
Japan |
1998 |
10,000,000,000 |
1,000,000,000.00 |
|
Athens |
Greece |
2004 |
15,000,000,000 |
937,500,000.00 |
|
Pyeongchang |
South Korea |
2018 |
13,000,000,000 |
764,705,882.35 |
|
Rio de Janeiro |
Brazil |
2016 |
13,000,000,000 |
684,210,526.32 |
|
London |
United Kingdom |
2012 |
14,800,000,000 |
227,692,307.69 |
|
Sydney |
Australia |
2000 |
6,600,000,000 |
113,793,103.45 |
|
Turin |
Italy |
2006 |
700,000,000 |
63,636,363.64 |
|
Salt Lake City |
United States |
2002 |
2,000,000,000 |
58,823,529.41 |
|
Lillehammer |
Norway |
1994 |
1,100,000,000 |
42,307,692.31 |
|
Barcelona |
Spain |
1992 |
850,000,000 |
38,636,363.64 |
|
Vancouver |
Canada |
2010 |
925,000,000 |
35,576,923.08 |
|
Beijing[i] |
China |
2008 |
2,000,000,000 |
20,000,000.00 |
|
Atlanta |
United States |
1996 |
800,000,000 |
7,920,792.08 |
The 2014 Olympics Sochi, Rusia was the most expensive costing $1,545,454,545.45 per medal. During this Olympics, Sochi won 33 own medals and it cost $51,000,000,000 this country to host.
The last summer Olympics held in 2016, was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. Costing $13,000,000,000 to host and with the United States winning. It cost host nation Brazil an eye-watering $684,210,526.32 per medal.
The London Olympics in 2021 cost $14,800,000,000 – the equivalent of $227,692,307.69 per medal when divided between the 65 medals won overall. In these games, the host nation Great Britain won 29 gold medals, making it the most successful Olympics performance for the UK since the 1908 edition.
The US held the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta and won 101 medals making them the host country to win the most medals from the past 15 Olympics. It cost the US $800,000,000 to host the Olympics, and they had the cheapest cost per medal at $7,920,792.08.
The billions of dollars per medal sure does put the pressure on home nations athletes! Do you think it’s a worthwhile investment?
