My cousin Nathan not only trained for the Olympics (injury precluded attendance), but did it while working and going to university. It can be done, especially when there are limited grant funds available to you from Sport Canada. He didn’t get any support from sponsors or from his parents (they were divorcing and broke).
Years ago, when the Sydney Olympics were on, Ukulele Ike hinted that he’d been an Olympian, but didn’t offer further info. Still wondering what his event was, and what further light he can shed on this subject.
$8,000.00 per pair? I doubt it. More like $800 per pair.
In any event, by the time one gets to that level of competition, usually the gear is provided by the manufacturers, often these days as part of a sponsorship deal.
As far as developing racers go, who are hoping to someday make a regional or national team, but who do not yet have a sponsor, it is more common to have one or two sets of race skis per discipline, one or two training/backup sets per discipline, and one or to sets of rock skiis from previous years. Some disciplines are hard on skiis (e.g. freestyle moguls), so sometimes even developing racers go through more than one set of race skiis per season, but in most (e.g. GS or SuperG) a set will last a year, depending on the type of construction.
Keep in mind that even though a ski will only perform for a few hours of use before it starts noodling, the time a race ski is in use is very limited – just a few minutes per race. These days, usually it is tuning rather than skiing that wears out race sets. One can only sharpen an edge so many times until there is no edge left, and obviously a race ski must be immaculately tuned before every race.
Actually, I’ve known at least one guy who was probably Olympic material; at 18 he was running the 800m in times not far from international-level times, and with training doubtlessly could have been a contender. But he simply could not afford to do it; he had to work, his family was poor.
My riding instructor was long-listed for Sydney (that means she was on the “long-list” of potential candidates, Equestrian competitors use a qualifying system that is partially subjective). She was about 35 at the time and working fulltime training and running her barn. Most Equestrian comptitors are in their 30s, work fulltime, and are sponsored.
I know of one Olympic competitor who has a day job which isn’t horseriding – Amy Tryon is a firefighter. She finished 6th indivually and Bronze for the Team at Athens.
Just to backup EJsGirl, I saw that behind-the-scenes piece too, and they did say $8000.00 each. He said over $120,000.00 worth of skis were there for just Bode Miller and Darren Rahles (sp? I don’t want to look it up for fear of spoiling myself). They have their own wax technitions too, who do nothing but put wax on the skis. Well, they probably do more than that in taking care of the skis, but their job title is “Wax Technition.”
Maybe NBC was wrong, but that’s what they said.
Figure skating is a terribly expensive sport, but at least 2 poor skaters got pretty high up. Tonya Harding and Rudy Galindo were both dirt poor, and both won national titles (Harding twice) and medals at Worlds, Galindo bronze and Harding silver. Harding’s problems came more from being a fuckup (and associating with loser idiots). I’ve always wondered what she could have accomplished had she been raised in a decent environment, with money to spend on her sport. She might be worth hating and making fun of, but it’s still amazing what she did with so few resources and brains.
Harding should have been born in Russia. The Soviet system would have straightened her up and she would have been a dazzling champion. Her triple axels seem even more amazing today, since only one other female American skater has ever landed a triple axel in competition. It never crossed my mind back then that we’d get to 2006 and triple axels would still be so very rare among women.
I don’t know enough about either of them to know how they paid their basic skating costs as they were growing up, but neither was the type to get big endorsement deals prior to (or even after) winning their national titles. Galindo made money after his title by skating in shows.
Uh, I meant it’s amazing how high up in the skating world she got…
I’m glad you caught “sinicle”, Miller. I was about to start cleaning the thread with a toothbrush.
Athletes. Pronounced like it’s spelled.
He also doesn’t state which professional sport he spent four years around, and in what capacity. Was he a waterboy for an NFL team? Well, I’d be willing to wager that about zero to two current NFL players are Olympians. If Mr. Roboto were an NHL trainer, on the other hand, he’d probably know lots of 'em.
Technicians! WTH is up with this thread?
Argh’o’me! I knew it looked wrong, and was going to look it up, but I forgot. Sorry.
You will be penalized thirty seconds. Now move, move, move!
For the large majority of Olympic athletes in Australia it is quite a financial struggle for them to get to that level. I have contributed several times by buying raffle tickets or attending functions so that someone’s child/niece/cousin could attend overseas events. I know the sister of a former Olympic medallist and she is better off than her well known sister just by having had a career rather than being subject to the whims of sponsors.
I’ll move later, if it’s ok. I’m busy watching all these guys wipe out in the Super G (I’m watching Tivo-delayed on top of NBC delayed). I feel sorry for the atheletes who work hard (part of which is getting the money to live and train and travel) and then they wipe out or make stupid mistakes that cost them time or marks.
Athletes! You’re staring at bronze if you’re lucky enough to get a medal at all! Now hustle!
Oh man, I so suck! The television is right next to the computer and I’m being distracted, obviously. How embarrassing.
(I spell-checked distracted and embarrassing)
The $8,000 figure has also been set out as what they paid in overweight baggage charges (which wouldn’t surprise me).
I expect that the cost of the skis is simply a number pulled out of the air, rather than fair market value. (At the other extreme when it comes to valuation, about a decade back I had to return a pair of prototypes that I had been testing in Canada back to the manufacturer in the USA. To avoid customs borkerage fees, the value was set at $0.00, for, to quote the manufacturer, “they’re not for sale.”) If there had been a need to use those same skis as a deductible expense, then they would have been given some rediculously high value.
What it really comes down to is that the skis are provided by the manufacturer. The manufacutrer puts a lot of R & D into making skis, of which high end racers are part of the testing program (and most assuredly do not pay thousands of dollars per set). In short order, this will be put into production for recreational skis. The manufacturer can put whatever value it wants on the prototypes, for there is no fair market value. The closest valuation would be the regular production versions based on the protoytpes. The best of the best will often ski on prototypes, for the feedback will hopefully result in a ski that better meets the needs of the racer who gives the feedback, but most high end skiers will simply ski on production models – which they will seldom if ever pay for because the manufacturer wants the publicity of having top racers on its gear. (It’s really no different than an NBA player being given shoes, or advising a shoe manufacturer of what he would like in a pair of shoes. It does not mean that a given pair of shoes is worth a few thousand dollars.)
Yes, wax technicians do more than just apply wax – they also tune the skis. A wax technician is a highly skilled artisan. Think of a wax technician as someone who is a master wizard of environment and alchemy, who has to predict the type of snow at different places on the hill a day in advance, and then work through the night preparing a selection of skis to match the various predicted snow conditions.
Dude. Chill. I can spell. I just can’t type (or proofread, evidently) for sh*t. (and I’m also aware that “extrememly” is not a word) :dubious:
Ath-let-es?
Pronounced aucks-lay-taze.
Being a Masters swimmer I sometimes meet former Olypians. I’ve even taken clinics with Clay Britt who made the 80 Olympics. I’m also from the DC-Baltimore area which seems to have a ton of good swimmers. Many of them started at a young age, and in the early teen years swim a ton. I know some of the age group teams make you come in 10 times a week plus.
Around here some times we get emails about someone wanting to train for the Olympics and they offer classes to support themselves. May are also on the college team and that gives them a free place to work out at.
The one Olympian I’ve known comes from a very wealthy family. I’ve known several “national team” members who come from modest middle-class backgrounds, and I suspect this represents the majority of Olympians.