While other countries reward athletes for Olympic medal wins, American Olympians will be subjected to 'victory tax' upon their return from the 2016 Rio games.
Currently, the US is leading with 93 medals, 30 of which are gold.
China comes second with 54 medals and Great Britain is third with 50 medals, both teams having 19 gold medals.
In the US, gold medallists are expected to receive $25,000, silver medallists get $15,000, while bronze winners earn $10,000.
Gold medals- which are mostly made of silver with a gold plating- are
worth roughly $600 based on current commodity prices, silver medals are
worth close to $300, bronze medals- which consist mostly of copper -
have barely any monetary value, approximately $4.
According to
Americans for Tax Reform, calculated costs for a gold
medallist are $9,900, for silver is $5,940 and for bronze is $3,960.
Tax is charged on both the money they receive from the Olympic committee for winning and on the value of the Olympic medal.
Kenya, which is the leading African country in the medal table, offers athletes Sh1 million prize money for winning gold.
Kenya currently has seven medals, four of them being gold.
Ethiopia comes second with five medals, one of which is gold.
