How U.S. women's hockey hero Maddie Rooney plans to spend her gold-medal winnings

Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 3:36 PM

Maddie Rooney is a real American hero who’s likely to spend money earned in South Korea on a German car. After stopping an attempt from Canada’s Meghan Agosta to seal Team USA’s 3-2 shootout victory in the women’s hockey gold-medal game at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the 20-year-old goalie revealed on teammate Amanda Kessel’s Instagram story that she would put her winnings toward a new BMW.

“I’ve had this dream for a while,” Rooney said.

It’s a rather expensive dream — one that her Olympic gold might not be able to bring to life on its own, unless she decides to auction off the medal itself.

According to Robert Raiola, the Director of Sports & Entertainment Group at PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP, Americans who bring home gold are due for paydays of $37,500.

In this years @Olympics members of @TeamUSA that win a medal receive:
$37,500 for Gold
$22,500 for Silver
$15,000 for Bronze
If a US Olympic athlete has < $1M of Adjusted Gross Income in yr they win a medal The $ pd by USOC is not taxable to athlete https://t.co/674MzsPKSa
— Robert Raiola, CPA (@SportsTaxMan) February 11, 2018

A search through TrueCar for Beamers near Rooney’s hometown of Duluth, Minnesota reveals that only one model — the X1 SUV, with a market average price of $35,324 — falls within that range.

Team USA goalie Maddie Rooney looks on during the Ice Hockey Women Play-offs Semifinals on day 10 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 19, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.

She could use those earnings, which won’t be taxed, to finance the purchase of, say, a 5 Series (market average: $52,990), or go for another gold and drop them on a down payment for an i8 (retail: $144,395). Considering her new position as “United States Secretary of Defense,” she just might be able to afford whichever model her heart desires.

Gold medal comes with a promotion pic.twitter.com/3RaifjMVqe
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 22, 2018

In truth, Rooney could be cash-strapped as she heads back to the University of Minnesota Duluth, where’s pursuing a degree in business while starring on her school’s hockey team. If there’s any justice in this world—or, really, any reverence for the U.S. women snapping Canada’s 24-game winning streak and four-cycle stranglehold on Olympic gold—a car dealership somewhere will step up and offer Rooney the BMW of her choice at no charge.

That is, unless the NCAA decides to be a wet blanket and threaten her college eligibility for accepting a gift she so richly deserves.