Incentivised: Malysia's Wei Chong Lee could walk away with about ￡400,000 plus a gold bar worth some ￡380,000 if he wins the Olympic badminton

 

Team GB athletes who win gold at this year's home Olympics will be immortalised in the national memory. But for competitors from some other nations, prestige isn't the only thing driving them on.

Virtually all the world's national Olympic committees will be offering cash rewards to athletes who take gold in theirdisciplines.

Except Britain, which maintains that victory is its own reward.

A gold medalist from Malaysia will walk away with about ￡400,000, for example. But if they emerge triumphant from badminton, the country's strongest sport, they will receive an additional lump of gold - literally - worth some ￡380,000, The Sunday Times reports.

A gold medallist from Russia's remote Chelyabinsk region, meanwhile, will walk away with a ￡600,000 reward.

For Team GB stars the rewards are far less tangible. From the moment any take gold, the Royal Mail will begin designing a stamp bearing their image and deliver them to 500 post offices for sale the following day.

The champions' stamps will be available in books of six for ￡3.60 or individually for 60p - to be immortalised forever among philatelists.

UK athletes could be forgiven then for looking enviously at the incentives on offer to their international rivals.

The Indian government will be offering coaching jobs to its athletes who win medals, the country's sports minister Ajay Maken has announced.

Of the nations that finished in the top 10 of total medal hauls at Beijing four years ago, Italy is the most generous to its stars. It offers ￡116,000 for a gold.

The basic payment on offer to Russian athletes is ￡85,000, but that can hiked up significantly by regional bonuses. The US will pay a not to be sniffed at ￡15,000 to a gold medallist, while Austria and Germany will pay just under ￡13,000.

Still, with fat sponsorship deals on offer and the prospect of punditry work with broadcasters at future Games and related events, Team GB stars are unlikely to go hungry in years to come.

在本次主场奥运会中获得金牌的英国运动员无疑将在英国名垂青史，但对一些其他国家的运动员来说，催他们奋进的动力可不仅仅是参加奥运所能获得的荣誉和地位。

实际上，世界上所有国家的奥委会都会给予那些在各自项目获得金牌的选手现金奖励。

除了依然认为胜利本身就是奖赏的英国。

据《星期日泰晤士报》报道，一位马来西亚金牌获得者可以领取40万英镑的奖金，而如果他们在本国最强的项目羽毛球上获得金牌，除了40万英镑奖金，他们还将获得一块价值38万英镑的金条。

一位来自俄罗斯偏远地区车里雅宾斯克地区的选手如果获得金牌，将得到高达60万英镑的奖金。

然而英国队的明星们获得的奖励相比之下则抽象得多。一旦有英国运动员拿了金牌，英国皇家邮政就会即刻开始设计一款印有该运动员头像的邮票，并在第二天发送至全国500家邮局对外发售。

印有冠军头像的邮票将会以每套6张，3.6英镑的价格或单张60便士的价格发售——在集邮者的世界中永垂不朽。

因此，英国运动员们如果对其国外竞争对手的奖金面露妒色是可以原谅的。

印度体育部长阿贾?梅肯已经宣布，印度政府将为获得奖牌的运动员提供教练工作。

在四年前北京奥运会奖牌榜前十名的国家中，意大利是最慷慨的国家，其获得金牌的运动员可以得到11.6万英镑的奖金。

俄罗斯选手获得金牌的最低奖励是8.5万英镑，但加上地方奖金，数额也相当可观。美国付给金牌运动员的奖金是1.5万英镑，还能让人勉强接受，而奥地利和德国的奖金只有不到1.3万英镑。

不过，丰厚的赞助费用和与广播员一同在未来奥运会及相关赛事的权威解说工作使得英国的奖牌获得者们在未来数年里还不至于挨饿。

GB: Great Britain

immortalise: 使不朽

prestige: 名望，声望

discipline: 项目

philatelist: 集邮家

incentive: 奖励，奖金

punditry: 权威之意见，言行等；权威人士