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> For members of Team USA — many of whom live meagerly off the largesse of friends and family, charity, and public assistance This is not true in Canada, altho

> For members of Team USA — many of whom live meagerly off the largesse of friends and family, charity, and public assistance This is not true in Canada, although it's a bit of a secret. I wonder if the reporter is ignorant about the situation in the USA as well. Olympics hopefuls in Canada get generous stipends from the Federal Government to train all year. The amount they get is $25,000 to $50,000 (Canadian) per year depending on various factors such as their location. It's also apparently tax free; keep that in mind when comparing it to average incomes. Hundreds (perhaps thousands) of "hopefuls" get these grants in Canada. Only a fraction of them get into the Olympics. It's a semi-secret use of tax payer money (and unnecessary and unfair in my opinion). Not a single person who've I mentioned this to was aware of it! Source: I know two such hopefuls who got this money. (They didn't get into the Olympics.)

dguaraglia 10y ago
This is true in Brazil as well. Not necessarily considered a "waste" of money, but Olympians are paid somewhat generous grants. It's still hard to qualify, which kind of creates a Catch-22 scenario, but at least hopefuls don't need to live on food stamps.
snowwrestler 10y ago
As someone who knows a couple athletes headed to the Olympics this summer: there is essentially no direct taxpayer support for Olympic athletes in the U.S. The U.S. Olympic Committee was created by Congress and given exclusive right to the Olympic marks in the U.S. (the rings, flag, name, etc)--that is the extent of the federal govt. support. Most of the USOC's revenues come from Olympic mark licensing deals, and other corporate sponsorships. There are some personal and foundation grants too. It's all private cash though.