Many U.S. Olympians struggle to get by. Now they’ll get a $100,000 retirement boost
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For many U.S. Olympic athletes, going for gold can also mean going broke as they shell out thousands of dollars for elite coaching and equipment while forgoing employment to train around the clock. Athletes have reported relying on food stamps, racking up credit card debt and resorting to crowdfunding to make it to the Games.
On Wednesday, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced a new financial assistance program for all Team USA athletes — a $100,000 retirement benefit per each Olympic Games that they participate in.
This program seeks to address the financial challenges athletes face, which “have led many to choose between leaving their sports to find full-time work or continuing to train and compete while struggling with poverty or financial insecurity,” according to a 2024 report by the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics.
While a select few famous athletes make millions from sponsorship deals, many Team USA members struggle to make ends meet.
Under the new program, athletes will be eligible to begin receiving their $100,000 retirement payments 20 years after the Games they competed in or when they turn 45, whichever comes later. The benefits add up over multiple Olympic Games, meaning that athletes who participated in three Games, for example, would receive $300,000 from the program. The benefits will be paid out over a four-year period.
Because of the two-decade delay in payments, these benefits will not put an end to athletes’ financial struggles while they are training. However, they will help to provide a safety net for when athletes’ Olympic careers are over.
USOPC Chair Gene Sykes called the program a “springboard that will propel these athletes to even greater heights beyond their Olympic and Paralympic careers.”
Ross Stevens, a Team USA supporter and the founder and chief executive of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, provided a $100-million donation — the largest in USOPC history — to establish the Stevens Financial Security Awards, which will provide the retirement benefits to athletes.
“I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said in a statement.
The Stevens Financial Security Awards will begin with the athletes who participate in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Games and continue at least through the 2032 Games, with a goal of becoming a permanent program.
L.A. 2028 Summer Olympics organizers say they are on track to reach about $2 billion in sponsorships by year’s end, moving closer to the $2.5 billion needed.
In addition to the $100,000 retirement benefit athletes will gain for each Olympics they participate in, they will also accrue $100,000 in life insurance benefits, bringing the total financial benefits package to $200,000 per Games. Life insurance benefits will be distributed to athletes’ family or chosen beneficiaries upon their death.
The United States is one of the only countries that does not provide government funding to its Olympic athletes.
Instead, the USOPC, the national governing body responsible for supporting and overseeing Team USA, is responsible for providing financial support for athletes in the form of stipends, grants and health insurance. They also provide direct payments of $37,500 for gold medals, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
The USOPC operates entirely on private donations and sponsorships. For many athletes, this financial assistance is not enough to support them during training, according to the 2024 report.
The report points to the experience of Olympic short-track skater Emily Scott, who struggled to get by on food stamps and a part-time job at a surgical supply factory after her USOPC monthly stipend was cut from $1,950 to $600 a month.
“The last thing you want to be worried about in a year like this is being able to pay your rent and eat, and you want to eat healthy,” she told USA Today in 2013. That was pretty hard. … But I’m not the only one suffering.”
The report points out that financial challenges can be magnified for Paralympic athletes, who “often face much higher costs for specialized training and adapted-sport equipment. ... Sports prosthetics and adaptive gear can cost thousands of dollars and are rarely covered by health insurance.”
Many athletes rely on donations to make it to the Games. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA hopefuls raised more than $1 million on GoFundMe, according to reporting by USA Today.
Sponsorships are also an important funding source for Team USA members.
However, only the top tier of famous athletes — such as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps — are able to secure corporate sponsorships that provide millions of dollars.
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