To Go for the Gold, These Olympians Went Into the Red

Olympians patch together jobs and run up debt to fund their medal hopes

By Joe Pinsker and Callum Borchers of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"To get to the pinnacle of their sport, Olympians make financial sacrifices, put careers on hold and cobble together a living around their training schedules. Some accumulate thousands in debt." 

"In a survey of about 1,000 American athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic pipelines, 26.5% reported individual incomes under $15,000 a year."

"Rulon Gardner’s “miracle on the mat” victory in a gold-medal Greco-Roman wrestling match in 2000 made him an Olympic legend. He’s a fixture of TV montages during the Games and signed autographs at a celebration of Salt Lake City’s successful bid to host the 2034 Olympics last week.

To fellow athletes, he’s a cautionary tale. He took on $70,000 of debt while training and didn’t plan for his financial future after sports."

"His gold medal came with a $30,000 prize and earnings from speaking engagements and sponsorships, enough to clear his debts."

"This year’s report on elite American athletes found they were, on average, poorer for having competed, paying a net cost of about $12,000 a year after accounting for travel, entry fees and other expenses."

"The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, or USOPC, awards $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.

The USOPC and individual sports’ national governing bodies also offer athletes stipends and health insurance. Often, though, only top-ranked athletes are eligible for assistance. Many pay training and competition expenses out of pocket. The USOPC awards almost $2.5 million in annual funding for costs such as education, training and travel."

"Some 71% of Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls reported having a paid job outside of sports in a 2024 survey by Global Athlete, an advocacy group focused on athletes’ welfare."

There is certainly alot of prestige in being an Olympian. So maybe that entices people to spend money on training.

It reminds me of a post about a guy who went into $250,000 in debt to pay for law school.

"It's a prestige thing," he says. "I'm an attorney. All of my friends see me as a person they look up to. They understand I'm in a lot of debt, but I've done something they feel they could never do and the respect and admiration is important.""

See Would You Pay $250,000 To Get Your Friends' Respect?

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