Olympians Go Broke Going for Gold
By Cam Van
With just under 3000 winter Olympians converging on Beijing, the 2022 winter Olympics kick off Today. After years of honing their craft and pushing their bodies to the limits, these athletes are on the verge of summiting the athletic mountain top. However, while these athletes are going for gold, almost all of them do so while maintaining some other job to pay their bills. Due to their rigorous training schedules, Olympians, and Olympic hopefuls, historically have a hard time cobbling together funds to support their athletic dreams, and this has only been made worse in recent times given the pandemic’s latent uncertainty.
In a recent COVID-19 impact survey from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), 59% of Olympic Hopefuls reportedly make less than $25,000 the year of their Olympiad. The survey included 643 Olympians and 94 Paralympians. Only one-third of these athletes polled could live off their prize money from competitions and sponsorships, both items that continue to be in flux as the pandemic rages on. Moreover, 28% of the surveyed athletes applied for and received unemployment, with 34% not sure of their eligibility or how to apply.
So, how do these athletes get paid?
For some lucky Olympians, their countries have Olympic medal bonuses. On the highest-end, Singapore gives $750,000, $369,000, and $184,000 for gold, silver, and bronze respectively. Meanwhile, the USOPC pays $37,500 for every gold medal won, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze. These bonuses are tax-free, so long as the Olympians do not report more than $1 million in gross income. For reference, the United States ranked 9th in gold medal bonus. It is important to note that this bonus is just for medals, not achieving an invitation to the Olympics themselves
For those who don’t make it to the podium, there may be some sponsorship opportunities. Insert your favorite athlete on a Wheaties box or State Farm commercial. The exact contents of sponsorship deals are often not publicized, but these deals can be in the millions for star athletes. Unfortunately, these deals are very few and far in between. So, how could these elite, but not household name athletes make a living off of their hard-earned efforts if they make it to the Olympics, but not the podium?
Stipends and grants. Some athletes in the US are able to win grants from one of the 45 national governing bodies (NGBs) that receive funding from the USOPC. These NGBs give stipends to individuals who are “likely to qualify” or “likely to win a medal.” However, there are only a few spots in each of these NGBs, and they may be taken by the same individuals who are inking big sponsorship deals, creating a bigger disparity between the very top athletes and the rest.
This leaves athletes on the up and coming, athletes on the cusp, and athletes on the fringe out to fend for themselves and find some other means of supporting their athletic aspirations. Not to mention that any injury could lead to a big loss in salary even for those who are in contention to win prize monies. Olympic speed skater Mitch Whitmore spoke on the issue, saying, "You want it to just be about the competition, but. . . you slip, or just have some little thing go wrong, and it’s hard to eat for several months." Recently, to make ends meet, some athletes have turned to influencing, like professional runner Charlie Watson who gets paid $1000 per post. While these deals may be a direct relation to the absolute number of fans an athlete has, not necessarily their skill or number of devoted fans and interactions, this is becoming more and more viable for athletes to give them the flexibility to stay focused on their goals.
In comes Couro. Soon, athletes will be able to connect directly with their fans on a platform dedicated to the athletic community. Couro will empower athletes to offer exclusive access to their workouts, experiences, and philosophies in exchange for support to continue their athletic journey. All while bringing along the next generation of Olympic hopefuls, creating a community where athletically minded users can interface, and letting the fans into the world of an elite athlete. No more side jobs.
