Last week, while sitting in traffic, I noticed a weathered bumper sticker with a little acoustic guitar on it that said: “Real musicians have day jobs.”
I presume most of us do have real day jobs, but as the Rio Olympic Games begin, for some reason – maybe because I’m an ex-Olympic shooter – I wondered about the hundreds of young women and men who have tried (with many failing) to represent the United States in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Real musicians and Olympians seem to have a lot in common. They have ambition and enthusiasm for their craft. But like musicians, these talented young people have to pay their electric bills too. How do they support themselves and their families, all while having to diligently train, often several hours a day over the course of years? How did I pull it off?
The haves and haves nots
Many might assume that since athletes are at the pinnacles of their respective sports, they’re all able to live comfortably, either from endorsements or competing professionally. After all, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ estimated net worth is about US$55,000,000.
But most who do make it to Rio receive very little funding, and most don’t make a lot of money off their sport outside of the Olympics, either. For example, two-time Olympic javelin thrower Cyrus Hostetler recently told The Washington Post that the most he’s ever earned in a year is $3,000.
Sure, there are many celebrity athletes who are professionals, have corporate endorsements and have their airbrushed faces on a Wheaties box. NBA stars like Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler will take a hiatus from their NBA training camps, compete in the Olympic Games and then return to a life of material comfort. But these folks are few and far between.
The average U.S. Olympian simply does not live in the highest level of the financial stratosphere. According to the Track and Field Athletic Association, there’s a “steep pyramid of income opportunities” for track and field athletes, with only a “select few” able to earn a very good living. Fifty percent of track athletes who rank in the top 10 in the U.S. in their event earn less than $15,000 annually from the sport.
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Unlike many other countries, the United States federal government doesn’t fund Olympic programs, though some athletes get special funding from their national governing bodies. For example, USA Swimming reportedly provides approximately $3,000 to national team members of its top 16 ranked athletes. But other aspiring athletes are actually unemployed and need to be supported by their families – and some families have even gone bankrupt trying to support their son’s or daughter’s Olympic dreams. Leading up to the 2012 Games in London, US News reported that gymnast Gabby Douglas’ mother had filed for bankruptcy, in part due to “the high cost of her daughter’s training, which involved living away from home for two years.”
A number of aspiring Olympians – like decathlete Jeremy Taiwo and swimmer Chuck Katis – have resorted to the crowdfunding website GoFundMe to help finance their training and various travel costs.
Scraping by to chase a dream
In reality, countless hopefuls and current Olympians hold down real jobs working all shifts. You name it, they do it: waiter, teacher, coach, construction worker, public speaker, janitor and many other jobs. For example, swimmer Amanda Beard has worked as a model and as a public speaker to earn a living.
Many are undergraduate and graduate students who train at their universities. Some serve in the military. Several fortunate athletes live and train at regional Olympic training centers like those at Colorado Springs, Chula Vista and Lake Placid.