Russian medal winners to receive bigger bonuses

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has more than trebled bonuses for athletes who win medals at next month's Beijing Games.

Since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the ROC has awarded $50,000 for every gold medal won by a Russian but will splash out 100,000 euros ($159,500) to Beijing's Olympic champions.

Bonuses for silver and bronze medals will also increase to 60,000 and 40,000 euros respectively from $20,000 and $10,000.

"The Russian government must still approve the proposal but it should be done in the next few days as everything has already been agreed," ROC spokesman Gennady Shvets told Reuters on Tuesday.

"I think it's a fair reflection of the much higher cost of living nowadays compared to a decade ago," he said.

"For example, in 1996 you could buy an apartment in Moscow for $50,000. Now, that would not be enough for a good car. So we had to adjust our bonuses accordingly."

In addition to the official prize money from the ROC, all Russian Olympic medal winners will receive large cash bonuses from various sports funds and private sponsors like energy giant Gazprom.

Local governments also reward medalists from their respective regions, giving them free apartments, cars and cash.

The total sum could easily amount to $500,000 or more for each gold medal won in Beijing.

(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; Editing by John O'Brien)

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