nsbr: taxing olympic athletes for their medals.

[origami]

Many of the college athletes will turn down the honorarium anyway, if they wish to compete in college and retain their amateur status. A college scholarship may benefit them much more than the $25k (minus taxes, of course) they are awarded for a gold medal!

[BrattyMeg]

Originally Posted by origami

Many of the college athletes will turn down the honorarium anyway, if they wish to compete in college and retain their amateur status. A college scholarship may benefit them much more than the $25k (minus taxes, of course) they are awarded for a gold medal!

I know Jordyn Wieber has forfeited her eligibility to compete in college since she turned pro

A lot have to do it in order to continue to train at an elite level and have sponsors pay for their travel and support.

[origami]

Originally Posted by FlirtatiousBrat

I know Jordyn Wieber has forfeited her eligibility to compete in college since she turned pro

A lot have to do it in order to continue to train at an elite level and have sponsors pay for their travel and support.

I think it comes down to a cost benefit analysis. For some, the returns for going pro will far outweigh those for retaining amateur status. But others, the opposite will be true. At any rate, we can't really blame Obama, since the laws have been around for a long time, and it is Congress that levies taxes, not the executive branch.