Of the €400,000 or so in prize money that the Dutch Olympic committee will pay out to this year’s medal winners in Rio, between €150,000 and €200,000 will end up with the tax man, the Telegraaf points out on Thursday.

The Dutch Olympic athletes are considered to be employed by the NOC*NSF which pays out €25,500 for a gold, €19,125 for a silver and €12,750 for a bronze. That is, by the way, 15% below the prizes paid out in London.

The athletes then have to pay income tax of 40-52% over their Olympic earnings.

The paper points out that lottery winners, who have just been lucky to pick up a prize, only pay 29% tax on their winnings.