Happy New Year, everyone. We here at "Inside USA Shooting" are busy keeping up with America's best shooters, and hope your year is off to great start. Today's blog is about something we don't usually cover, but I suspect one word will catch your attention: MONEY.

It's somewhat of a little known fact that Olympic Athletes – while considered "amateurs" – can get paid for their performances. And I'm not talking about getting paid with medals, products, clothing or other perks. I'm talking about cold, hard CASH. The United States Olympic Committee has an incentive program for athletes that earn medals, and USA Shooting is included in that program. That means that each of the six USA Shooters who medaled in Beijing recently received their bonus checks for their great showing at the Olympics. Check out these numbers:

Gold medal winners Vincent Hancock (Skeet) and Glen Eller (Double Trap) got $80,000 EACH from USA Shooting.
Silver medal winners Matt Emmons (Men's Prone Rifle) and Kim Rhode (Skeet) got $40,000 EACH from USA Shooting.
Bronze medal winners Corey Cogdell (Trap) and Jason Turner (Men's Air Pistol) got $24,000 EACH from USA Shooting.

And that's not all: In addition to those awards, the medalists received checks from the U.S. Olympic Committee as well. Gold medalists got $25,000 each, silver medalists received $15,000 each and bronze medal winner were given checks for $10,000 each. Add them together and you can see that our "amateur" athletes can definitely earn a great living with their skills.

I don't know what each athlete is going to use the money for, but just for kicks, I'll throw out some guesses based on how I know each of these shooters as people. These are total speculation, and I'm doing it just for fun. (I wonder what each of these shooters will say to me the next time I see them . . .they'll either chuckle and say I was "right on the nose", or they'll chuckle and say, "Smith, you don't me very well, do you?!". Either way, we'll get a good laugh out of it.)

Since Vincent Hancock just got married, I suspect he and wife Rebekah might look for a house. Rebekah is in nursing school, so perhaps some of that gold medal money will go towards tuition.

Glen Eller may also use his money for a house – he's been sharing a house near the Fort Benning, Georgia base. But Glen is such a fun-loving guy that I would imagine some of that money will go towards "toys". He already has a terrific maroon Hummer for a car, but I wouldn't be shocked if he adds something to his fleet.

The silver medal winners for USA Shooting are both settled down in their lives, so I would look for Matt and Kim to use their windfall for something practical. Kim is getting married this spring, so some money will likely go towards the nuptials. Besides that, she loves to fix up old cars, invest in real estate and is considering veterinarian school. All "practical" uses for her cash.

I would guess that Matt and his wife, Katy, might look into buying a house, but the question is where. They're both still training for the next Olympics, so staying in Colorado Springs, CO, would make sense. But Matt has said on a few occasions that his dream is to return to Alaska (where he attended college), so maybe they'll "pull the trigger" (pun fully intended) on a place up there. And considering Katy is from the Czech Republic, maybe they'll look for something over there as well.

The bronze medalists are the hardest ones to pin down. Corey is a self-described "Tomboy" who loves all sorts of outdoor activities – especially hunting and fishing. Maybe some exotic "cast and blast" trip in her future? She is also an admitted "Shoe-A-Holic", so a few trips to the mall are likely in the mix. And she loves to cook AND tune up cars. . .  so a buck-or-two might be spent on those hobbies. Hard to predict what any 21-year-old will do with a dollar, let alone $34,000 of them, so we'll see what Corey dreams up.

Jason will likely spend some his money on one of his favorite hobbies: golf.  You know, that's one of my favorite hobbies also. Hmmm. Well I better wrap up this blog and put in a call to my "old friend and buddy" Jason (wink, wink) and see if I can get in on these golf treats! Gotta go.

See you soon here on the Outdoor Channel blog site!