Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 586 Generous Reward
When talking about the largest bullfighting arena in Spain, the famous Lerta Bullring is a must-mention.

Of course, the word "new" should be added before "Lelta Bullring." The original Lelta Bullring has long been demolished and rebuilt, and the new Lelta Bullring is built several kilometers away from the original site. Although it is far from the city center, it has more land available for the construction of the arena.

The old Lerta bullring could only accommodate 3500 spectators at most, but after several expansions, the new Lerta bullring can now accommodate up to 5 spectators, making it the largest bullring in Spain and the venue with the largest number of spectators.

Even in later generations, such a number of seats would definitely be considered among the top-ranked competition venues.

After being converted into an Olympic venue, the Lelta bullring is expected to accommodate at least 4.5 spectators. If the number of people watching the grand event outside the bullring is included, the total number of spectators could exceed 8.

This also means that the Madrid Olympics will surpass the record-breaking Athens Olympics in 1896 to become the most-watched Olympic Games.

After deciding to host the Olympic Games, Spain began its promotional campaign for the 1916 Madrid Olympics.

Because the host country of the Olympics is Spain, a superpower, European countries are happy to give Spain face and send sports delegations to participate in the Games.

Of course, a significant part of the reason is that Spain is located in Europe, so it doesn't take much time for sports delegations from various countries to travel there.

For events like the St. Louis Olympics held in the United States, European delegations not only had to travel a long time to reach the US, but also incurred extremely high ocean voyage costs. This is why the number of countries participating in the Olympics in the US is not large.

Spain has adequate measures in place to address this.

First, Spain can provide travel subsidies to the sports delegations from various countries coming to Madrid for the Olympics, or send cruise ships to travel to various countries around the world to handle the transportation of the sports delegations.

This has been well received by countries in Europe and around the world. After all, crossing the ocean to Europe is not easy at this time, especially for small countries with poor economies. Being able to save money is definitely good news.

Secondly, Spain has also increased the prize money for this Olympics.

The Madrid Olympics has a number of confirmed events, the most important of which include athletics, swimming, football, tennis and fencing.

According to Olympic tradition, the host country can add some locally themed events to the competition. Carlos did not hesitate to add basketball and equestrian events to the Olympic Games.

Basketball and football both gained popularity in the 20th century and eventually became sporting events that attract global audiences.

Of course, in the current development of ball sports, basketball, which started later, is far behind football.

The invention of modern football can be traced back to 1863, while basketball was invented in 1891 by American James Naismith. There was a gap of nearly 30 years between the two ball sports. By the time basketball was invented, football had already made great strides.

Basketball was introduced to Europe from the United States near the turn of the 20th century. After learning about basketball, Carlo enthusiastically went to watch a game.

However, the basketball game was a huge disappointment for Carlo, because compared to the mature basketball system of later generations, basketball at this time was still quite rudimentary. There were no clear rules for basketball, and playing basketball was not as glamorous as it is in later generations.

However, because Carlo was aware of basketball's potential for future development, he still regarded basketball as a ball sport of the same level as football, and instructed the Spanish sports authorities to vigorously develop basketball and football, so that Spain could take the lead in both ball sports.

Twenty years have passed since then, and basketball, which was very rudimentary back then, has now taken shape.

Football, needless to say, has become a household name in Europe and even the world. The number of young people in Spain who love football is increasing, which is enough to show the charm of football.

Spain is not lagging behind in the development of football, but it is far ahead in the development of basketball, which is why Carlos included basketball in the Olympic Games.

Whether other countries will accept Spain's achievements in basketball is not something Carlo should worry about.

Carlo only knew that with basketball being included in the Olympic Games, Spain was already guaranteed a gold medal in the event.

If basketball becomes a global phenomenon with the Olympics, Carlos will support the Spanish sports authorities in taking the lead in uniting European countries to establish FIBA.

Unfortunately, FIFA had already been established by then, and Spain could no longer control FIFA to contribute to its own development.

However, Spain still retains control over FIBA. While basketball isn't as developed as football, it's still a highly popular sport, and controlling FIBA ​​brings many benefits. Basketball tournaments hosted by Spain can also attract more countries to participate. Returning to the sport itself, to attract more countries and athletes to the Madrid Olympics, Spain has set higher prize money for all Olympic events.

Because the Stockholm Olympics used priceless pure gold medals, Spain naturally wouldn't skimp on medals.

The gold medals from the Madrid Olympics were made of pure gold and were heavier than those from the Stockholm Olympics. The obverse of the medal depicted an Olympic champion wearing a laurel wreath and holding a torch aloft, while the reverse bore the inscription "1916 Madrid Olympics."

The gold medal weighs a whopping 576 grams and is worth nearly 2000 pesetas, equivalent to the total income of a Spaniard for almost three years.

The silver medal weighs 571 grams. Due to the significant drop in the price of silver, its value is only equivalent to 51 pesetas, which is negligible compared to the gold medal.

Needless to say, even with the commemorative significance of the Olympics, the value of a bronze medal is only in the single digits.

However, what's so appealing about the Olympics isn't the value of the medals, but rather the rewards the winning athletes receive.

In the major Olympic events, gold medalists receive bonuses equal to the value of their individual gold medals, while team gold medalists receive bonuses half the value of their team gold medals. That is, the former receive 2000 pesetas each, and the latter receive 1000 pesetas each.

The prize money for the silver medalist is half that of the gold medalist, that is, the individual silver medalist receives a prize of 1000 pesetas, and the team silver medalist receives a prize of 500 pesetas per person.

The prize money for bronze medalists is half that of silver medalists. Athletes who win medals below bronze do not receive prize money, but they do receive a commemorative trophy from the Olympic organizers. This trophy is a gold-plated silver souvenir with a total value of about 200 pesetas.

Because an individual can participate in multiple competitions, truly talented athletes can strive for more medals and thus earn more prize money.

It is worth mentioning that during this Madrid Olympics, all the gold medalists will experience the pinnacle of their lives, as they will be awarded their medals by King Juan Carlos of Spain himself.

Of course, the silver and bronze medalists will also receive similar treatment. The silver medalist will be awarded by the President of the International Olympic Committee, and the bronze medalist by the head of the Spanish sports authorities. A special photographer will take their picture, which will be presented to them as a souvenir.

The latter two are fine, since it's normal for the IOC president and sports officials to present awards, and it's not something worth mentioning.

The only exception is those gold medalists who will be awarded by Carlo himself; their experience of winning the gold medal will be something they can brag about for many years after the Olympics.

Although the King also personally presented awards at the London Olympics and Stockholm Games, the prestige of those awards was clearly incomparable to that of Carlo.

As the king who held real power, Carlo's personal awarding of the prize had an undeniable impact, and the commemorative photos taken on the spot could be a huge fortune in the future.

In particular, the gold medals awarded by Carlo himself, being made of pure gold, have even higher collectible and commemorative value. This will be an additional asset for those athletes, helping them to better overcome difficulties in the future.

Of course, the athletes from Spain must be the most excited and inspired to learn this.

After all, he is the monarch of his country. If a Spanish athlete can receive an award personally presented by Carlo, it will be an unforgettable experience for the athlete and something to brag about to everyone.

Of course, winning an Olympic gold medal is not easy. Aside from basketball, where Spain has a strong presence, athletes still need to work hard to win a gold medal in other events.

However, as the host country of the Olympics, it is almost a certainty that Spain will become the country with the most gold medals in this Games.

The advantages of being the host country are obvious. In addition to being able to add a few projects where they have an advantage, they can also remove a few projects where they do not have an advantage.

Furthermore, the referees for the Olympics are jointly provided by the host country and the International Olympic Committee. This essentially means that Spanish athletes already possess a natural advantage at the Olympics; as long as their abilities are not lacking, winning a medal is practically a certainty.

If an athlete isn't highly skilled, they wouldn't be able to represent Spain in the competition. After all, Olympic athletes represent their respective countries, and these athletes are carefully selected. Each athlete is a top performer in their country and field; there are no weaklings. It's a competition between the strong.

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(End of this chapter)