Billionaire Steven Ross created $100 million fund to pay American Olympians once their athletic careers end.
American athletes competing in the Milan Cortina Olympics starting next week will get a large amount of money whether they win a medal or not.
Last March, billionaire Ross Stevens donated $100 million to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation to help athletes later in life.
Starting with Milan Cortina, and going at least through the 2032 Summer Games, every U.S. Olympian and Paralympian will receive $200,000 for each Olympics in which they compete.
The athletes will get the first $100,000 at age 45 or 20 years after their first qualifying Olympic appearance, whichever comes later. They will receive another $100,000 as a guaranteed life insurance benefit for their families or chosen beneficiaries after they die.
Because the payments accumulate for each appearance, an athlete competing in three Olympic or Paralympic Games would receive $600,000 in benefits.
“I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens, a longtime Team USA supporter and founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, said in March.
Ross’ initial $100 million donation for the program is the largest the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has ever received.
The U.S. is sending 232 athletes to Milan Cortina, which comes to $46.4 million in athlete payments. The Winter Games run Feb. 6-22.
Added motivation to make the team
Dani Aravich, a Paralympian who has competed in both the Summer Games and Winter Games, said the grant is “incredibly motivating” for athletes training for Milan Cortina.
“Knowing that qualifying athletes will have access to this kind of life-changing support inspires all of us to keep pushing in our preparation. Personally, it even makes me consider extending my journey toward LA 2028,” she told The New York Times last October.
USOPC chair Gene Sykes said the donation not only provides a safety net for athletes but a springboard for life beyond sports.
“These extraordinary individuals have committed their lives to their sport, often at the expense of traditional career paths and financial savings,” he said when the USOPC announced the program last year. “As they approach the end of their competitive journeys — often as young as 25 or 30 — many face a daunting reality: the lack of financial savings to support them and their loved ones in their post-athletic life.”
The U.S. is one of the few countries whose government does not fund its Olympic and Paralympic program or its athletes. The U.S. team depends on sponsorship and media deals (for around 75-80% of its revenue), along with fundraising (for between 10-20%),” according to The Associated Press.
Stevens’ contribution is the largest single amount given to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, a nonprofit that supports athletes on and off the field.
Many Olympic athletes make personal financial sacrifices to train and compete. Some work regular jobs or put off pursuing other careers, and often face difficult decisions about whether to chase their Olympic dreams given the relatively small financial backing they receive.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation President Christine Walshe told The Associated Press that 57% of U.S. athletes make $50,000 or less per year.
“At 25, 26, I was like, ‘I can’t do this to my family anymore. I can’t keep living in my car. I have student loans. I have to get on with my life,’” biathlete Deedra Irwin told the AP.
Do U.S. Olympic medal winners get paid?
While the International Olympic Committee does not give out prize money for winning medals, several nations, including the United States, compensate athletes for making the podium. Athletes from Great Britain, Norway and a handful of other countries do not receive any payment or bonus for winning a medal.
The USOPC pays American athletes who bring home the gold $37,500, which is on the lower end of the scale compared to other countries. A silver medalist gets $22,500 and a bronze winner $15,000. Those payouts are up from the 2016 Olympics, when the committee awarded $25,000 for gold medals, $15,000 for silver medals and $10,000 for bronze medals.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hong Kong and Singapore offered the highest payouts, by far, for Olympic winners. A gold medalist from Hong Kong, a country that has had four athletes reach the top of the podium in its history, gets $768,000. Singapore pays gold medalists $745,000. To date, that city-state has had only one athlete win the gold, Joseph Schooling, who beat Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The two countries are among at least seven that provide six-figure incentives for Olympic victors.
Category: General Sports
