How Olympic Athletes Earn Money
While a small percentage of Olympic athletes may have huge endorsement deals, most must work regular jobs to support themselves and their pursuit of Olympic gold. Olympic athletes typically need to train five and more hours a day. They need to find jobs that will work around their training schedule and also allow them the flexibility to travel to tournaments around the country and around the world.
Most athletes take basic jobs, anything that will pay the bills, yet allow them the flexibility to train every day and also travel to attend and compete in tournaments. They work in restaurants, stores, tend bar, work in construction, every line of work.
There was a great program, operated by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee), called OJOP. The Olympic Job Opportunities Program, formerly sponsored by Home Depot, allowed Olympic athletes to work part-time hours, yet receive full time pay and benefits. This was a great support method for Olympic athletes. Currently the program is not active, but the USOC is pursuing other sponsors to restart the program.
Some athletes can work in their sport of choice. An Olympic skier may work at a ski resort or for the Ski Patrol. Some Olympians work as teachers or trainers in their sport, while other may work as coaches at various levels as well. There are also job placement programs sponsored by the USOC that place athletes in jobs that are flexible or temporary.
Olympic athletes must support themselves, paying normal expenses like rent, food and clothing. Then they have the added cost of equipment and sport-specific purchases. Olympic athletes must also pay huge amounts for travel expenses, both for training as well as tournaments domestically and internationally.
The costs are astronomical. An athlete might spend $150,000 for a single season of training, and that's above and beyond their personal living expenses. Some athletes must work a full eight-hour day, then train for five hours. They must take vacation time to attend events and may face the difficult decision of keeping their job or continuing their Olympic dream.
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Most athletes take basic jobs, anything that will pay the bills, yet allow them the flexibility to train every day and also travel to attend and compete in tournaments. They work in restaurants, stores, tend bar, work in construction, every line of work.
There was a great program, operated by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee), called OJOP. The Olympic Job Opportunities Program, formerly sponsored by Home Depot, allowed Olympic athletes to work part-time hours, yet receive full time pay and benefits. This was a great support method for Olympic athletes. Currently the program is not active, but the USOC is pursuing other sponsors to restart the program.
Some athletes can work in their sport of choice. An Olympic skier may work at a ski resort or for the Ski Patrol. Some Olympians work as teachers or trainers in their sport, while other may work as coaches at various levels as well. There are also job placement programs sponsored by the USOC that place athletes in jobs that are flexible or temporary.
Olympic athletes must support themselves, paying normal expenses like rent, food and clothing. Then they have the added cost of equipment and sport-specific purchases. Olympic athletes must also pay huge amounts for travel expenses, both for training as well as tournaments domestically and internationally.
The costs are astronomical. An athlete might spend $150,000 for a single season of training, and that's above and beyond their personal living expenses. Some athletes must work a full eight-hour day, then train for five hours. They must take vacation time to attend events and may face the difficult decision of keeping their job or continuing their Olympic dream.
More from this contributor:
Rory McIlroy is PGA's new star - a fan's opinion
Tiger uses Twitter to deliver bad news on U.S. Open - a fan's reaction
Published by Ted Sherman - Featured Contributor in Business & Finance
Navy service WWII and Korea, BFA, MA. Retired, experience: exec. speechwriter, advertising, sales promotion, PR, graphic art, photography, travel and humor writing. Follow me: @travel4seniors, Editor of tra... View profile
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