China, much like other countries, has embraced the practice of rewarding its most  successful Olympians beyond the medal stand.

As China piles on the Olympic gold medals, it is justifiably proud of its accomplishments. National glory is great. But for Chinese athletes who have slaved away in sports camps for most of their lives, the monetary payoff isn`t such a bad thing either.

Communism? What`s that? China`s medal winners will be the best rewarded in the history of Chinese sports as celebrity culture and commercialisation strengthen their grip on the country.

China, much like other countries, has embraced the practice of rewarding its most successful Olympians beyond the medal stand. Every Chinese athlete who brings home gold is guaranteed at least $51,500 from the central government, nearly double what their counterparts received at the 2004 games. And, by the way, that`s all tax free.

The athletes also stand to enjoy substantial paydays from provincial and local governments bursting with pride over their native sons and daughters. Often off the books, these sums can dwarf the proceeds from Beijing.

Various corporations have jumped into the act, including Beijing-based Yanjing Beer Co. The company is offering $146,000 for each gold medalist in the 32 water sports events, $70,000 for each silver and $28,000 for each bronze.

That`s a great leap forward compared with a few decades ago when Chinese athletes were expected to be content with their daily wages and their patriotism. China`s first gold medalist, Xu Haifeng, who won in 1984 in a shooting event, was awarded a $2,600 bonus.

“In the old days, they just gave you a plaque,” said Wei Hanfeng, executive editor of Sports Illustrated China. “Now Chinese gold medalists walk away with more than many athletes in developed countries.”

Still not satisfied? How about the kilogramme of gold and $80,000 in cash offered by a China foundation, which might assuage winners who discover their “gold” medal is actually gold-plated. Add it up and Chinese gold medal winners can expect to pocket an estimated $300,000 on average. That amounts to more than 100 years worth of wages for the average Chinese city dweller and 300 years for rural residents.

US gold medalists, by comparison, receive about $25,000 from the US Olympic Committee. Those who become media darlings can make major bucks, of course.

Prohibitions against paying Olympic athletes were lifted in the 1980s by the International Olympic Committee. As in the US, the most charismatic Chinese medalists vie for corporate sponsorship.Despite his leg injury, hurdler and 2004 gold medalist Liu Xiang is expected to keep most of his endorsement deals, which amounted to more than $20 million last year from Cadillac, Coca-Cola, Nike, Visa and more than a dozen Chinese companies. And if you`re the first Chinese gold medalist, considered a sign of good luck in Chinese culture, the payoff could be huge. That honour this time went to female weightlifter Chen Xiexia.

The National Sports Administration, local government and the foundation each are expected to give her $150,000 and sponsors are expected to provide $1 million more, plus houses and cars.

Winners also might receive apartments, government jobs, cars and instant admission to university. A lifetime pension from the central government is under consideration.

Last week, when Qiu Jian unexpectedly won a gold medal in the men`s 50-metre rifle competition, his wife exclaimed “We can pay our mortgage in advance!”

Many athletes insist all the money won`t erode their discipline. “The money is a bonus,” said Zhang Guozheng, a 2004 gold medal winner in weight lifting. “But it`s the spirit and prestige that matter.”

Whatever the incentive, other nations this year have shown a willingness to increase the prizes available to successful athletes. At the start of the games, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a doubling of rewards to $150,000, $90,000 and $60,000 for his nation`s gold, silver and bronze winners, respectively.

In Germany, gold medal winners are entitled to 50 litres of beer per month, while in Belarus gold medalists get, among other things, a lifetime`s worth of free sausages.

India, which like China has more than one billion people, has much less in the way of gold medals. The country is offering its first solo Olympic gold medal winner, shooter Abhinav Bindra, a doubling of his pension and a lifetime go-anywhere free pass on first-class, air-conditioned Indian trains.

Other nations name streets after their medal winners, exempt them from military service and issue stamps in their honor.

Mongolia last week gave judo star Tuvshinbayar Naidan, its first-ever gold medal winner, the telephone number 9999-9999. That`s considered a lucky number on the steppe. North Korea does it the way China used to. No big monetary reward, but the knowledge that youre due for special medals, such as the “Hard-working Hero” award.

China`s system of rewarding medal winners financially was just getting started in the mid-1980s when Susan Brownell competed in the heptathlon as a student at the Beijing Sports University. But Chinese academics were considering how best to motivate athletes, said Brownell, a professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Many of today`s rewards follow on their research. Ranked in order of importance, the incentives were money and bonuses, the chance to go to university, the chance to eat well, still a factor in some rural areas, and patriotism.

“Basically it`s me-first, country-second, which isn`t really that different anywhere,” she said. “Already at that time they thought money was pretty important and were pretty jaded about patriotism.”

The windfall can leave young athletes with a new lilt in their step. Table tennis athlete Zhang Yining, often told her coach during her years of training about how she envied people who owned a car. But her coach Li Sun told her repeatedly not to even think about it in a country where coaches hold great sway over athletes on and off the court.

That all changed when she won gold at the Athens, Greece, games.

“Take a gold medal in the Olympics and you can buy anything you want without my permission, even an airplane,” he told her. While star athletes garner the spotlight, a host of coaches, bureaucrats and trainers in China`s elite state sports system also get bonuses proportionate to the gold medal winner.

Once the sponsorship contracts start rolling in, athletes often are obliged to give a portion back to the sports federation that “created” them.— Dawn/LAT-WP Service