“Jike has won a gold and silver”, he said.
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But all that winning will cost her.
Ms Biles is not alone, her fellow USA medallists will be slapped with tax bills for their victories as well.
Reflecting the charged nature of the evening, China’s team coach Liu Guoliang, who has calmly watched his players with arms folded for most of the Olympics, was on his feet shouting and cheering each point won.
Not every gold-medal victor at the summer Olympics gets his or her face on the side of a Wheaties box.
Mo Farah survived a tumble on the track to get a gold while Jessica Ennis Hill managed silver in the heptathlon and Greg Rutherford took bronze in the long jump.
Many people echoed the following comment from another reader: “The prize money should not be taxed, although for some of the high-profile athletes, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the endorsement money and other financial windfalls that come with their success”.
Chinese fans on social media are turning their favourite athletes into superstars in the world’s most populous nation, but when angered they’re a force to be reckoned with. “The public can accept some mistakes and some failures, but the tolerance over the loss of one gold does not mean that China’s sports circle should not care about the overall haul of golds and medals”. The value is based on the value of the materials the medals are made of.
The gold medals now being used at the 2016 Rio Games are made with 494 grams of silver and 6 grams of gold, equating to a worth of roughly $650 each (according to current market prices), as reported by Time Magazine. “We’re two weeks away from college football and the NFL, and the Major League Baseball playoffs are soon, so it’s a bad time for the Olympic athletes to make hay in the spotlight”.
Americans for Tax Reform calculated the bills to be; for a gold medallist $9,900; for silver $5,940; and for bronze $3,960. He has never won an Olympic medal. With three medals, two of them gold, she must now go down alongside the country’s greatest Olympians.
Some analysts estimate Mr Phelps, who’s worth an estimated $55m, could have a tax bill of $55,000.
Although, the worth of a medal in the long-term can depend on a whole lot more.
Why should an athlete who worked so hard to represent and win for their country be charged for their victory? “It nearly feels that the whole world is against China in diving because everyone, even from a different country, is happy when you beat them”.
A similar bill has been proposed in the House of Representatives, but it has not come up for a vote. “I think we will see a fading out over time, just as we might see with China at the moment”, Crede says.
For decades, the Communist state has rallied national unity and pride on the country’s athletic performances on the world stage, especially in the Olympics.
“There are a few problems we can not overlook”. The US Olympic committee pays for health insurance and stipends for only a small number of US athletes.
Dalilah Muhammad powered to a brilliant victory in the women’s 400m hurdles to become the first victor of the event from the United States in Olympic history. He announced he’d be retiring after the 2012 Olympics but ultimately made a decision to compete in the 2016 Games.
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“We can all agree that these Olympians who dedicate their lives to athletic excellence should not be punished when they achieve it”, said Senator Rubio at the time.
