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Venezuela will give free houses to all the country's Summer Olympians

Venezuela triple jumper Yulimar Rojas earned a silver and a free house at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Venezuela triple jumper Yulimar Rojas earned a silver and a free house at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Michael Phelps returned home from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to a pushy local television reporter. Germany’s Hahner twins came home to their country’s Olympic committee accusing them of orchestrating a publicity stunt. Serbia’s Olympians got a heroes’ welcome home at a Belgrade parade.

The homecomings for Olympic athletes were as varied as the countries represented in Rio, but none was more unique than that of Venezuela, which welcomed its Olympians home with, well, homes.

Venezuela will offer free government housing to its 87 Olympians, the Associated Press reported.

Public housing has long been a cornerstone of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s political agenda. Originally orchestrated by his predecessor Hugo Chavez as a disaster relief effort for flood victims in 2010, Maduro says the country has spent $66.4 million on more than one million homes and has pledged to shave his mustache if that number doesn’t reach its goal of three million by 2019.

Democratic opposition to Maduro’s United Socialist Party guess the number of homes built is roughly a quarter of the incumbent’s estimation of one million, but regardless, the Venezuelan president promised new homes and cash to his country’s Olympians upon their return, according to reports.

Additionally, Maduro pledged to increase government spending on athletics by 50 percent in preparation of the 2020 Tokyo Games, according to The Washington Post. Venezuela captured three medals at the Rio Olympics, a silver in the triple jump and bronze in boxing and BMX bicycling.

Billed as a way to inspire national pride, Maduro’s Olympic housing gift does not come without critics. As The Washington Post notes, the country is in the midst of an historic economic crisis, with its inflation among the world’s highest and costs of basic goods soaring 773 percent over the past year.