The ceremony of presenting cars to Russian athletes after the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, held on Ivanovo Square in the Kremlin, ended in a loud scandal. Moreover, this scandal happened out of nowhere. One of the Olympic champions put a car from the “Olympians Support Fund” up for sale and literally a few hours later changed the gift
A completely ordinary thing, which, nevertheless, became perhaps the main news in the world of sports.
In fact, who exactly sold the BMW X6 is unknown. It is only clear that these cars were awarded exclusively to the champions of the Games. Information has emerged that this is one of nine synchronized swimmers who took part in the Olympics. Yes, it doesn’t matter. What is criminal in this act - putting up for sale what belongs to you and earned by your own labor? Moreover, as the two-time Olympic champion of 2014 in figure skating has already noted Maxim Trankov, not every athlete will want to spend such a car.
Previously, there was no such reaction to the actions of our athletes - and they always sold cars. Ever since the “Olympians Support Fund” began to present such gifts. Perhaps now electronic services are simply much more developed, and information about such sales immediately “goes to the people.” But there were much more high-profile cases.
For example, in September 2011, a two-time Olympic boxing champion put his BMW X5 up for sale Alexey Tishchenko. The athlete received this car for winning the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He airbrushed it with a moment from his own fight and the Olympic rings, rode it for almost three years, and then put it up for sale.
It is unknown who exactly sold the BMW X6. Yes, it doesn’t matter. What is criminal in this act - putting up for sale what belongs to you and earned by your own labor?
According to Tishchenko himself, he needed money to finish building the house and conduct an election campaign for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Omsk Region.
The BMW X3, which was received at the same time for silver at the Beijing Olympics, was put up for sale by one of the members of the Russian diving team. Then Yulia Pakhalina became second on the springboard both in the individual tournament and in the “synchronized” tournament paired with Anastasia Pozdnyakova.
swimmer Yulia Efimova, about which so much was written during the Games in Rio de Janeiro, in 2013 put up for sale her Audi A6, which she was given for bronze at the 2012 Olympics. Efimova then explained that she permanently resides in the United States and does not intend to transport the car there. It was much easier to sell the car in Russia and use the proceeds to buy a vehicle directly in America. One of the Russian national team volleyball players sold the Audi A8, donated for their victory in London.
Biathlete Alexey Volkov sold the Mercedes GL he received for winning the relay race at the Sochi Olympics, instead of which he bought a used Porshe Panamera with mirror paint in Germany for half the money (or simply covered with film, as social network users then suggested). Sochi champion bobsledder Alexey Negodaylo, accelerating in the carriage Alexandra Zubkova, also sold my car, just like . Statistics show that about a third of Olympians get rid of donated cars.
This is their personal matter, which, probably, can be discussed only because of an excess of free time, but under no circumstances condemn it.
This is their personal matter, which, probably, can be discussed only because of an excess of free time, but under no circumstances condemn it.
Situations like in 2010 happen. Then the skater Evgeni Plushenko, bobsledder Alexander Zubkov and speed skater Ivan Skobrev were dissatisfied with the gifts for the Games in Vancouver. For silver, the Olympians Support Fund awarded an Audi Q5, and for bronze, an Audi A4 Allroad, while the champions received an Audi Q7. Neither Plushenko, nor Zubkov, nor Skobrev were able to win gold medals at that time, but they managed to get championship cars without paying the difference in cost. The main thing is to complain in time and say that the donated cars are too small and are more suitable for women.
And here is the figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova in 2014 I acted completely differently. She put the donated Mercedes GL up for auction, and donated a significant part of the proceeds to the Konstantin Khabensky charity foundation, which provides assistance to children with severe brain diseases.
Just a few hours after champions and prize-winners arrived on the territory of the Kremlin Olympic Games In Brazil, they received BMW cars as a gift; some athletes began selling crossovers on the secondary market. In particular, on the Auto.ru portal on August 25, that is, on the day the athletes were awarded in the Kremlin, it appeared announcement about the sale of the “Olympic” BMW X6. The seller wanted to get 4.67 million rubles for the car in the Luxury configuration. - by 10 thousand rubles. less than such a car costs at dealers.
Katerina from Khimki, indicated in the ad as the seller, perhaps in order to raise the price, said that “the car was issued by VV Putin himself,” although in fact the cars were presented to the Olympians by the Prime Minister of Russia, and the President gave them state awards.
“For achievements at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, or rather for Olympic gold!!!,” the announcement notes. - The car is new! xDrive 3.5 petrol, 306 l/s, luxury equipment. The car is insured! Bargaining is strictly at the hood. I don’t need help selling a car!!!” (the author's spelling and punctuation have been preserved).
The author of the ad indicated that you can call him around the clock. The ad also states that the seller will consider trade-ins. However, the girl herself who posted the ad told Gazeta.Ru that money was still preferable. The interlocutor explained that she is only an intermediary and is selling BMW at the request of one of the athletes, whose name she is forbidden to disclose. “Only one person will know whose BMW this is – the one who buys the car,” explains Katerina. According to Gazeta.Ru, we are talking about one of the champions in synchronized swimming.
According to her, there are several reasons why the athlete decided to get rid of Medvedev’s gift. “She only got her license a few months ago and she simply can’t cope with such a machine. The driver even drove the car from the Kremlin.
The family doesn’t need such a car either. The family is simple - relatives are used to traveling by buses and trolleybuses. They need apartments more than cars.”
Katerina noted that there have been a lot of calls since the announcement was submitted. “Sometimes I don’t have time to answer - they hang on the second line. Mostly collectors call - they were really waiting for the ad to appear.”
Within a few hours, the ad received about 5 thousand views.
It is worth noting that on Friday afternoon the car was promptly sold, as reported in an advertisement that has not yet been removed from the Internet site.
According to Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor, one of the Rio Olympic champions has already sold the BMW X6 she just received right outside the Kremlin. “She had just left when her fan, who follows her performances, intercepted her with a suitcase of money and offered seven million. Literally two hours later the car was sold.
The girl, whose name I also cannot name, explained that she drives cars of a higher class, so she has nothing to lose.”
At the same time, Velikaya does not condemn those athletes who decided to immediately sell the donated cars.
"Everyone has different situations in life, so, of course, someone can exchange this gift for something more necessary,”
- notes the Great.
Olympic champion in team foil competition Artur Akhmatkhuzin stated at a radio station to journalists that he would rather receive a BMW as a gift than a Lada. “Of course, it’s more pleasant to get a BMW than a Lada, but what are you talking about? But this is a gift from the president, a very high reward. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” said the athlete.
As Gazeta.Ru wrote, the keys to the new cars were received by the Olympic champions from Medvedev’s hands on August 25. For the first time, cars were presented not on Vasilievsky Spusk, but right on the Kremlin territory. The athletes who brought gold from Rio were given a BMW X6. Silver medalists received X4, and bronze medalists received X3.
It is noteworthy that earlier a source from Gazeta.Ru in the car market, related to the purchase of cars for Olympic medalists, expressed the hope that this time the athletes would like the cars and there would be no scandals associated with the sale of these cars. Some winners of the previous Games in Sochi sold the cars presented to them for their victories. Among these was a biathlete who used the money to buy another car, as well as a bobsledder. The Olympic champion of the Sochi Games, the figure skater, also announced her intention to sell the car given to her, but the athlete promised to send the money to children's charity.
Like Gazeta.Ru, there were other scandals not related to the sale of Olympic BMWs. So, on Thursday, a journalist accused an Olympic wrestling champion of dangerous maneuvering in the center of Moscow, who had recently been awarded a BMW X6 car for the gold medal. According to the journalist, the athlete impudently cut him off.
Traditionally, Olympic athletes from Russia who occupy one of the places on the podium receive generous gifts from the state. On Wednesday, February 28, the champions and medalists of the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, were awarded in the Kremlin. The athletes received white BMW cars. As it turns out, the Olympians' plans for prize cars vary greatly.
On Wednesday, February 28, the Olympic champions were honored in the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the athletes with state awards, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presented the winners and medalists of the Games with the keys to brand new white BMW cars. The gold medal winners were given the keys to the BMW X6 (price from 4.7 million rubles), the silver medal - from the BMW X5 (from four million rubles), the bronze medal - from the BMW X4 (from three million rubles).
The celebration was not without its oddities. The car keys were mixed up, and some Olympians received the wrong “iron horses.” The mistake was corrected on the spot: the athletes simply swapped keys.
The athletes decided to use gifts from the state differently. But everyone, without exception, was pleased with the new acquisitions.
Thus, the winner of the Games gold medal in women's singles figure skating Alina Zagitova announced that she would give the car to her parents. The 15-year-old athlete said she was pleased with the gift and would definitely learn to drive in the future. She was also supported by her ice colleague, Olympic silver medalist, Evgenia Medvedeva. However, the figure skater did not answer the question of whether she would sell the gift.
Winner of four past medals Winter Games- three silver and one bronze - skier Alexander Bolshunov was very happy with the gift, saying that the new car came in handy
I don't have a car right now, so this gift is very cool. There are rights. I plan to drive a donated car, because this way I won’t buy a car for a long time. I will not erase any inscriptions from the car.
Nikita Gusev, a member of the Russian national hockey team, which won the long-awaited gold at the last Olympics, shared with reporters that he still does not understand that he is an Olympic champion. He plans to use the car and promised to drive according to the rules.
But figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, who became second in team competition with Dmitry Solovyov, on the contrary, said that she would sell a generous gift and “give part of the money to charity.”
Fortunately, I have my own car, so I’m going to sell this one to donate part of the money to charity, as I did after Sochi. I'm happy that I have the opportunity to help people
Vladimir Morozov, a figure skater who won silver together with Evgenia Tarasova, shared with “360” his plans for the donated car:
I will travel and enjoy. In general, you first need to drive it to understand whether you like the car or not. And then we will see further. I like it so far. I am very pleased to receive support from the Foundation
Vladimir Morozov.
Buy “what’s simpler”
The practice of exchanging or selling gift cars is not new, but for some reason it always causes a resonance in society. Probably because in Russia it is not customary to re-give gifts.
So, in August 2016, after the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a big story happened. One of the champions sold her new BMW X6 a few hours after leaving the Kremlin. It was reported that the amount exceeded the market value of the car almost twice. The athlete agreed and gave the car for more than seven million rubles, saying that she prefers to travel only in top-class cars, so she did not lose anything. Who it was is still not known, it is only reported that it was a member of the synchronized swim team.
Many athletes openly admit that they cannot afford the maintenance of such an expensive car, so they put gifts up for sale and use the proceeds to buy “something simpler.”
Even earlier, in September 2011, the media was shocked by another scandal: two-time Olympic boxing champion Alexey Tishchenko put up for sale the BMW X5, which he received for gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Perhaps the fact of sale would not have caused such a great resonance in the public if Tishchenko had not approached the sale with imagination. The boxer ordered airbrushing with a moment from his own fight and Olympic rings, which significantly increased the price of the car. However, the scandal was quickly hushed up. Really, who wants to argue with a boxer? Tishchenko himself admitted to the press that he needed the money to build a house, as well as to conduct an election campaign for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Omsk Region.
Very strange situations also happen. One of these occurred in 2010 after the Winter Games in Vancouver. Figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, speed skater Ivan Skobrev and bobsledder Alexander Zubkov were unhappy with their gifts. That year, the “Olympians Support Fund” gave an Audi Q7 for gold, an Audi Q5 for silver, and an Audi A4 Allroad for bronze. None of the named Olympians was able to receive the highest award, but they were able to “knock out” champion cars for themselves, and without paying the difference in cost. As it turned out, the athletes complained that the cars that they were entitled to receive medals turned out to be too small for the athletes and more suitable for women.
Russian champions and Olympic medalists in Brazil received state awards and received cars as a gift. A reception in their honor was held in the Kremlin, and they received congratulations personally from the president. NTV talks about what else they give to Olympic champions in Russia and other countries.
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What do they give our champions?
Champions and medalists of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The gold medalists received the BMW X6, the silver medalists received the BMW X5, and the bronze medalists received the BMW X3. All cars are Russian assembled.
In addition, every Russian athlete who won a medal at the Games in Brazil will receive from the state cash bonuses, orders (for first place) and medals “For Services to the Fatherland” of the 1st degree. Each athlete receives 4 million rubles for gold, 2.7 million rubles for silver, and 1.7 million rubles for bronze. The amount of prize money remained the same as at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.
Also, the authorities of many regions, whose interests were represented by athletes at the Olympics, prepared their own material incentives.
For example, Olympic champion Beslan Mudranov already received a foreign car from Kabardino-Balkaria. The head of the republic noted that it was of enormous importance for stimulating the entire Russian team in conditions of unprecedented pressure on our country in the history of the Olympic movement. The champion was given a certificate for a four-room apartment in the center of Nalchik and the keys to a brand new foreign car.
Rio Games judo champion Khasan Khalmurzaev also received an apartment as a gift from the mayor of the capital of Ingushetia. An athlete in a fight with American Travis Stevenson.
It must be said that not all countries reward their athletes in some way. For example, Croatia, Sweden and Great Britain do not pay at all for victories at the Olympic Games.
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Russia is a generous soul
Traditionally, financial bonuses are provided for places on the podium. Payments to athletes remained the same as after the 2016 Rio Olympics. The corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev back in 2017.
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So, for winning a gold medal, the government bonus will be 4 million rubles, that is, a little more than 70 thousand dollars. For silver - half as much - 2.5 million rubles, and bronze “costs” 1.7 million rubles. But the list of gifts does not end there. The Russian Olympians Support Fund immediately purchased 140 BMW cars to be presented to athletes through the Russian representative office of the German concern. There is also a gradation here. The “gold” ones will be given the keys to the X6 model, the “silver” ones will get the X5, and the “bronze” ones will get the X4.
This tradition dates back to 2006. Rio medalists in 2016 were also given BMW cars, but the Sochi winners were given Mercedes. It turns out that for the victory in the final over the German team, Russian hockey players will receive a German car.
By the way, that's not all. After the ceremony in the Kremlin, the athletes will go on to collect pleasant bonuses. They expect rewards from the regions and from their sports federations. The Krasnodar authorities, for example, will pay the champions 2 million rubles, but in Tver “gold” is valued exactly one million rubles more.
It is almost impossible to calculate the total fee of each athlete. But if we take the Tyumen skier as an example Alexandra Bolshunova, who won two silver medals and one bronze, then we can calculate the approximate size of payments. The athlete is entitled to 9.2 million rubles from the federal budget, and another 9.5 million rubles from the regional budget. A BMW car from wealthy patrons costs approximately 3 million rubles. In total, we receive 21.7 million rubles only in official payments and gifts.
It's good to be Singaporean
Cash rewards are paid to Olympic medalists in many countries. But with gifts things are much worse. Mostly Asian countries are famous for this. After the Games in Sochi, an athlete from Kazakhstan received a Daewoo Matiz car as a gift. After Rio, keys to more luxurious cars and apartments in elite areas of Astana were handed over there. They also gave apartments to Olympians from Azerbaijan.
