With years of training and the support of the entire nation behind them, it’s time for Team GB athletes to shine.
Olympic glory is the ultimate dream for almost every athlete and most have spent years working towards their goal of achieving first place on the podium in Tokyo.
But aside from victory and their name in the history books - what else can the world’s top sportsmen and women be set to earn?
The former world number one paired in the doubles with Joe Salisbury
The amount of money made by medal winners varies enormously around the world. While Team GB athletes won’t receive a penny for winning, a gold medalist from Singapore will walk away with an incredible $1millon.
Most European countries, including Norway and Sweden, do not pay Olympians for their medals. Like the UK, they offer athletes training and funding all year round instead of handing out bumper pay packets in return for a win.
UK Sport’s funding for Olympic and Paralympic sport for the Tokyo cycle is £374 million, with 69 per cent from Lottery money, and 31 per cent from the government.
UK Olympic medallists have potentially received training valued between around £37,000 and £57,000, while athletes with ‘podium potential’ receive training of £22,000 to £37,000.
Investment decisions are made on a four-year basis to cover a complete Olympic or Paralympic cycle but are focussed on an eight year performance development model.
Success is measured by the medals won, the number of medallists developed, and the quality of the systems and processes in place to find and support the nation’s most promising future champions.
Of course, athletes can bump up their salary's cash from sponsorship or endorsement deals. Rory McIlroy, for example has collected $29 million off the course over 12 months, after striking deals with Nike, Omega and UnitedHealth Group.
Scotland’s own Andy Murray is regarded as one of tennis’s biggest names alongside Nadal and Federer and has become one of the sport’s most marketable players. The 34-year-old is rumoured to be worth $165million, with endorsement deals with Amazon Prime UK and Austrian tennis equipment maker Head.
American stars are often sport’s biggest earners when it comes to sponsorship and deals, but the United States also pays £18,000 to gold medallists, £11,000 to silver medallists and £7,500 to bronze medalists through private funding from the US Olympic Committee’s Operation Gold scheme.
In Europe, Italy offer athletes the best pay outs, with those scoring gold this year set to walk away with £120k. Silver medalists are awarded £60k while bronze winners receive £40k.
Individual Olympians from Spain will earn £80k for each gold medal in Tokyo, £41k for each silver and £25k for bronze.
If the athletes are competing as pairs or in a team, the payout is a little lower. Gold medal winning duos in Spain are awarded £64k each, while a silver medal will see them snag £31k euros and finally £21k if they climb to the third step of the podium.
As for team sports, they will receive the same financial rewards that were paid out to Spanish teams five years ago at the Rio Games and walk away with £42k euros each if they are first, £24k if they reach second place and £15k for third.
Singaporean athletes get a whooping 1millon dollars (£727k) for a gold medal, £363k for silver and £181k for bronze through the Multi-Million Dollar Awards Programme.
Kazakhstan gives out €189,000 for first place, €113,000 for silver and €56,000 for bronze.
