Anton Vladimirovich Shipulin is a Russian biathlete, Olympic champion in the relay in 2014, bronze medalist of the Olympic Games-2010 in the relay, world champion in the relay in 2017, multiple medalist of the World Cup. In addition, the Honored Master of Sports of Russia is the European champion among juniors (2008) and the winner of the Small World Cup in the mass starts classification, as well as a two-time winner of the Race of Champions in the mixed relay and in the mass start. The titled athlete completed his sports career in 2018. Fans are interested in his financial solvency, because in recent years it is customary all over the world to exaggerate information about the income of athletes.
On August 21, 1987, in Tyumen, the future biathlete was born in the family of Vladimir Shipulin and Alla Shipulina. From childhood, the boy was actively involved in sports. Taking into account the thematic opportunities in the oil Arctic, the parents did not talk for long about the future of their child. The boy was simply doomed to biathlon, because the long winter with a free track in all directions from home became a worthy help for a capable and ambitious novice athlete.
General information about the earnings of biathletes
Modern statistics, even in their approximate reports, which do not take into account data on some TV channels, indicate that the number of domestic viewers watching biathletes competitions exceeds the Champions League football matches with the participation of Russian teams. It would seem that such a trend should provide quite serious earnings for athletes participating in title competitions. However, in the scale of professional sports of the international level, biathlon is not distinguished by its high financial solvency.
For example, 4.5 million euros in prize money at all stages of the World Cup can hardly be called impressive. The distribution of monetary remuneration for athletes from 1st to 15th place, ranging from 13,000 to 500 euros, looks very modest against the background of salaries of outstanding footballers and hockey players. Even taking into account various additional bonuses, for example, for the current leadership in the standings (general or disciplinary) and the results at the end of the year, the scale of funding is perceived as rather weak.
Indeed, the Football Champions League with its prize money exceeding 1.3 billion euros, and even the Australian Open tennis tournament with 37 million euros look quite grand compared to the Biathlon World Cup. So it turns out that Cristiano Ronaldo (US $ 88 million per year) and Roger Federer (US $ 68 million) are perceived among biathletes as real Goliaths of sports.
If you take the most titled biathlete in the world, who won the most World Cups, Frenchman Martin Fourcade with his 285,000 euros in prize money, it becomes clear how big the difference between the income of biathletes and their colleagues from other sports is. Accordingly, the achievements of Anton Shipulin look even more modest. This Russian biathlete, for example, received only 116,250 euros in 2015, taking 3rd place in the standings at the end of the season.
For the sake of fairness, it is worth remembering the prize awards that go beyond the scope of official competitions. But even there, biathletes do not have to count on serious awards. Several tens of thousands of euros and a car (not the most expensive segment) are unlikely to delight representatives of other sports.
Anton Shipulin's childhood dreams
Our titled biathlete, who is the champion of the 2014 Olympic Games held in Sochi, in his video shared with his fans information that in his youth he was engaged in the cycling business. At that time he was well versed in "bikes" and could independently assemble and disassemble them to their primary parts.
“I got all this money from the service. This was my first serious money earned. I even took bicycles for the night,”Anton said in his review. Currently, the biathlete has completed his sports career and with nostalgia in his voice recalls the past times, when he had to earn a living in a completely different way.
The main income of the titled Russian athlete
It is quite obvious that for all the leading biathletes in the world and the country, the main source of income is money received from their sponsors. For example, the Norwegian Bjoerndalen, striking the imagination with his "longevity", who has been participating in all top competitions for 20 years, earns over 1 million euros a year from advertising projects. Approximately the same thing, according to the athlete, is happening with the Frenchman Fourcade, who actively advertises cars, household appliances, insurance premiums and other goods and services.
Of course, in our country this aspect is not represented on the same scale as in the West. However, all the leading athletes in Russia also have their own commercial partners. This can be clearly seen even from the sponsor logos on the sports equipment. Our advertising projects featuring athletes are subject to confidentiality rules. But their approximate scale can be estimated by the expert assessment of specialists.
Thus, Anton Shipulin in one season can receive an amount ranging from 5 to 15 million rubles. For more accurate calculations, it is necessary to clearly take into account the specific detail in the form of an athlete's advertising activity, the brand status of the products presented, individual obligations within the framework of an advertising project and other individual indicators.
In addition, domestic athletes receive financial support from the state budget. This applies to the preparation, equipment and reward of the athlete for victories in title competitions. For example, Russian biathletes for their champion achievements at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi received 4 million rubles each and a representative car. Naturally, this also applies to Anton Shipulin in full measure.
