Kazakhstan 2012 Olympic champions will be rewarded with twice as much money as their Russian colleagues, Tengrinews.kz reports, referring to Mojazarplata.kz website that compared Olympic champions money awards in different countries.

Famous athletes - track-and-field athletes Olga Rypakova and Dmitry Karpov (Athens Olympics bronze prize-winner), the weight-lifter Ilya Ilyin (Beijing Olympic champion), boxers Adilbek Niyazymbetov and Serik Sapiyev, cyclists Alexandre Vinokourov, Maksim Iglinskiy and many others - will represent Kazakhstan in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

According to Kazakhstan Olympic Committee, Kazakhstan champions will get significant prize-money:
1st place – $250 000;
2nd place – $150 000;
3rd place – $75 000.

Kazakhstan boxer Bakyt Sarsekbayev and weight-lifter Ilya Ilyin became Beijing Olympic champions in 2008. Their money awards made up $250 000 for each of them.

Russia has raise its Olympic champions’ prize-money. The award amounted to $100 000 four years ago, but London champions will get $130 000 this year. The prize-money for the second and the third places will make up $82 500 and $56 000 correspondingly.

Ukrainian athletes got $85 000 for 2008 Olympics victory, $61 000 for a silver medal and $42 000 for a bronze one. The winners can count on the same awards this year.

President of Tajikistan allocated $62 000, $52 000 and $42 000 for 2012 Olympic champions for the first, second and third places correspondingly.

Prize-money for Olympic winners has been set at $25 000 for the last 18 years in the USA.

Singapore and Malaysia were the most generous countries in rewarding their 2008 Olympic champions ($500 000 and $300 000 correspondingly).

Some of the European countries don’t provide money awards for the Olympics champions at all. For example, Norway and Sweden sometimes name a geographic location in honor of their Olympic champions, but the athletes' sponsors are the ones that reward them with money.

North Korean champions are awarded with special state orders.