Double gold-winning breaststroke swimmer Kosuke Kitajima and gymnast Hiroyuki Tomita were among Japan's medal winners rewarded with special bonuses for their achievements at the Athens Olympics by the Japanese Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Kitajima, who won the men's 100 and 200 meters and took bronze in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay, was awarded the biggest payout of 7 million yen while Tomita was rewarded with a bonus of 5 million yen for winning the gold in the men's team event and the silver in the parallel bars.
With the exception of Japan's bronze-winning baseball team, all of the athletes to capture medals in Athens attended a ceremony in Tokyo to receive their bonuses.
Japan won 37 medals to surpass its previous biggest haul of 32 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The total in Athens includes 16 golds, which equals the country's best achievement in 1964 when it hosted the Tokyo Olympics.
The JOC paid out a total of 156 million yen in bonuses, almost double the 85 million yen it awarded to athletes after the 2000 Sydney Olympics.