How much is that gold medal worth?

I just heard on the radio that Lindsey Vonn's medals are likely to double her yearly earnings from $2.9 to $6 millions, while Bode Miller might see his income jump accordingly, from a more modest $1.3 million made last year, a bit less than Ligety's $2 million. Shaun White, the snowboarder broke all snow records in 2009 by racking up $7.5 million; today, with his gold medal, this potentially means even more money, but who really knows how much? Just as a reference, this still pale in comparison to Tiger Woods' more than $100 million or Lance Armstrong and Beckham over the 30 mark, Agassi at 26 or even Serena Williams' $12 millions! These figures, of course, are the sum of winnings and endorsements. Such amounts are “lagging” the market as we are amidst an unprecedented recession and it's not unlikely that they eventually fall somewhat.

The answer to that question maybe found in a combination of the athlete personal charisma, notoriety, personal agent's savvy and the country in which the endorsements are likely to operate. If an athlete stands out in a given country he or she stands to gain more (i.e. Maria Riesch in Germany at $1 million a year). America seems to remain the best spot to extract the most money out of sporting celebrity and European winter athletes may find it very, very hard to come even close to their American comrades. In France, a cross-country Olympic champion is not likely to make that much and I personally doubt that Switzerland's Didier Défago, the ski downhill winner, can really maximize his gold medal. It might be fair to speculate that if the other Didier (Cuche) had won, he would have cashed in a lot more, but again who really can tell?