Maria Sharapova's first, Alex Ovechkin's third.

Russian magazine "Finance." (yes, with the dot at the end :-) has compiled the list of 25 richest Russian athletes:

Maria Sharapova is first, but her income has declined by $1.5 million to $24 million compared to last year, according to "Finance.". Maria has earned only $0.9 million on the court, the rest of her income came from advertising contracts. For the majority of other athletes the main source of income and sometimes the only one is the contract with their sports team.

The second place belongs, as it was last year, to a basketball player Andrei Kirilenko, Russia's highest paid athlete, if we take into account the income from the contract only. The amount of his contract is estimated at $ 15.1 million, and it can go up if the St. Petersburg's alumni will sign with New Jersey Nets, recently bought by Mikhail Prokhorov, the richest man in Russia according to "Finance.".

The third is Alexander Ovechkin with $12 million. His existing contract with the club (Washington Capitals) has remained unchanged, but the advertising revenue brought Russia's best hockey player additional $3 million.

Source: www.finansmag.ru/news/45769

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