Medals Mean Big Bucks Today: Gone Are the Days of Athletes on a Shoestring Budget — the Olympics Aren’t for Amateurs Anymore

By Linda Robertson, The Miami Herald

Feb. 19–TURIN, Italy — Eric Heiden struck gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics but only on the speedskating oval. He won a record five races but reaped no financial windfall. He was a true amateur. The rule opening the Olympics to professional athletes was passed one year later.

Heiden was only 21 years old, but he never competed in another Olympics. He went to medical school and became an orthopedic surgeon.

Stroke forward to 2006. Speedskater Chris Witty, 30, is competing in her fifth Olympics — her fourth Winter Games. Skating is her full-time job. Thanks to prize money, stipends and sponsorships from Qwest, Nike and Dow, she lives a comfortable life in Park City, Utah.

Partners Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin have been professional lugers for 10 years. Grimmette used to juggle his training with roofing, painting and carpentry jobs. Martin worked at a golf club. Today, supported by Verizon and Panasonic and paid performance bonuses by USA Luge and the U.S. Olympic Committee, Grimmette and Martin are just as dedicated to their sport as NFL or NBA players. Their low-budget lifestyle is behind them. Grimmette owns a home in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In the past, an Olympian basked in his brief moment on the podium. He was lucky to get his face on a Wheaties box. Once his college scholarship expired or he wearied of waiting tables or could no longer afford a nomadic existence, he hung up his skates and got a real job.

But the Olympics aren’t for amateurs anymore. Career Olympians are the athletes winning medals at the Turin Games. They are as skilled at skiing down a mountain as they are at selling themselves to corporations. The increase in funding means even a luger can make a living and extend the glow of his quadrennial spotlight.

“Mark Spitz had to move on, but it’s a different world today,” said Peter Carlisle, the Octagon Sports agent who represents swimmer Michael Phelps, snowboarders Gretchen Bleiler and Kelly Clark and two dozen other Olympians. “The incredible growth and global TV reach of the Olympics has given the athletes more financial opportunities. Companies want to attach themselves to the message and image of Olympians.”

Since Peter Ueberroth stamped the five rings as a brand logo in 1984, the re-energized and mega-commercialized Games have become a marketing magnet. Three billion people watched the 2004 Athens Games on television and two billion are projected to tune in for the Turin Games. No wonder NBC paid $5.7 billion in fees from 2000 through 2012. The 2008 Beijing Games are expected to generate $4 billion in sponsorships and TV rights.

Inevitably, some of those billions trickle down to the athletes, who have become more savvy about promoting their wholesome, hip, nationalistic appeal. Bleiler, the snowboarder, endorses Napster. Kris Freeman, a diabetic cross-country skier, has a contract with Lilly pharmaceuticals. Miami speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez has a deal with 24-Hour Fitness.

FINDING A NICHE

Sports marketing has exploded since Mean Joe Greene handed his jersey to a young fan in a Coke ad. The Olympians are finding their niche.

“The audience has grown wary of the big-time athlete pitchman,” Carlisle said. “With Olympic athletes, there’s something a little more genuine. A company that wants to be associated with Olympians is looking for a different effect than linking with Kobe Bryant.”

Sponsors have set up camp everywhere you turn in Turin and its nearby mountains. Figure skater Kimmie Meissner is doing an appearance at Bank of America’s Hometown Hopefuls headquarters. Burton rented space in the snowboarding venue of Bardonecchia. Samsung did a Valentine’s Day lunch promotion with Alberto Tomba. Even Canada is touting itself as host of the 2010 Games with a giant log cabin erected in a downtown piazza.

A big star such as Bode Miller can really cash in during an Olympic season. His deals with Nike and Barilla pasta, among others, will earn him about $2 million.

As national Olympic committees and their governing bodies have grown richer, they have distributed more of the pie directly to athletes. The U.S. Olympic Committee, which has seen its revenue increase 600 percent since 1981, spent $35 million to prepare for the Turin Games. Athlete funding has doubled from $6 million to $12 million in the past four years. A perk the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association could afford for the first time here was putting wax technicians in lodging close to the venues, so they could analyze snow conditions more easily and have more contact with athletes.

Athletes can qualify for stipends worth upwards of $15,000 per year from the USOC. They can also get group health insurance. Operation Gold pays bonus checks of $25,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze. World championship and World Cup winners also get bonuses.

Their federations pay for travel, coaching, equipment, physical therapy — even wind-tunnel testing. It’s not quite major league, but it’s no longer bare bones.

Jim Shea Jr., the skeleton gold medalist in 2002, recalled how he used to sleep in barns during his European trips.

“I ate at gas stations,” he said. “I just lived off these little hotdogs. I got hooked on mustard.”

LONGER CAREERS

Today, with money in the bank, athletes can keep competing. The average age of U.S. Olympic team athletes has increased steadily, from 23 in 1980 to 26.02 in 2006. Of the 212 members of the Winter Olympic team, 30 are three-time Olympians, seven are four-time veterans and Witty is in her fifth Olympics (in 2000, she competed in cycling). Todd Lodwick, who competes in the obscure sport of Nordic combined, is in his fourth.

Some Olympic fans say athletes’ longevity has diminished the charming element of surprise when an unknown athlete comes out of nowhere to grab a medal. But neither the veterans nor the sponsors are complaining.

“The Olympics have become more visible and popular worldwide,” said USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel. “For sponsors, it’s attractive to align with Olympic ideals. In our country’s case, this is America’s team. You can support this team whether you live in Miami, Seattle or New York.”

Swimmer Donna DeVarona was 17 when she won two gold medals at the 1964 Olympics. That was the end of the road for her as an Olympian. Not only was there no money for swimmers, but there were no athletic scholarships for women. She enrolled at UCLA.

Compare DeVarona to Michael Phelps, who was a millionaire before age 20. He has deals with Visa, Speedo, Power Bar, a Japanese TV company and a Chinese electronics company. Carlisle recalled how, on a recent trip to Hong Kong, he and Phelps stepped out of a car and faced a huge billboard with one of Phelps’ Omega watch ads.

“You have to sustain relevance,” said Carlisle, who has masterminded a Phelps documentary, five in-flight videos and a swimming tour.

Compare the careers of bobsled drivers Todd Hays, a silver medalist in 2002 and a favorite for gold here, and Brian Shimer, who finally won bronze in 2002 after 12 years in the sport.

“When I first started I didn’t get a dime,” said Shimer, a Naples, Fla., native. “When it got really good I was making $15,000 a year. I raised most of my own money through golf tournaments and dinners. The Naples community gave me donations. When Herschel Walker was on my team, we did fundraisers and auctioned off a car.”

Shimer’s father took out a second mortgage to help his son purchase a $20,000 bobsled in 1989. Shimer didn’t own a car until he was 33.

“If I was competing today, I wouldn’t have to scrape to get by,” he said.

Hays owns a house, a car and a truck in Texas. He won’t say what he makes per year, but it’s probably three or four times what Shimer made.

“I’m not worried about anything financially,” Hays said. “I never thought I’d do this so long. But it beats a 9-to-5 job. Racing and hanging out with friends is my real payoff.”

Prize money in Olympic sports — formerly forbidden or paid under the table — has also increased.

At Kitzbuhel, Austria, the granddaddy of skiing World Cups, the downhill winner takes home a $64,000 check, and his equipment sponsor is likely to double that with a matching bonus. It’s not Wimbledon, which pays its winners $1 million, but Americans Miller and Daron Rahlves will probably top $1 million this season. Both travel the circuit in custom-made RVs, like rock stars. Rahlves’ was manufactured by the same company that made one for Madonna.

Rodriguez’s husband, speedskater KC Boutiette, makes most of his money skating marathons in the Netherlands, where his sport is popular. Ten years ago, he and Rodriguez rented a run-down Milwaukee house that was so drafty they put duct tape around the windows. Now they own a condo near Park City. Boutiette is competing in his fourth Olympics; Rodriguez, her third.

Among the most enterprising athletes are the snowboarders, who appeal to a Gen Y demographic advertisers are eager to connect with.

Six riders, led by 2002 Olympic gold medalist Ross Powers, broke away from the U.S. federation to form a group called The Collection so they could take advantage of endorsement opportunities that didn’t conflict with Olympic sponsorship agreements. They travel in a Snickers RV. They have clothing and equipment deals. They make action films. Powers, who signed with Burton at age 10, has deals with Frosted Flakes and Bank of America. Clark promotes Stonyfield yogurt. These elite boarders can make $500,000 to $1 million per year.

Chris Klug, a slalom snowboarder, has deals with Saturn, DHL and Mr. Coffee, and he wrote a book.

SOME STILL STRUGGLE

But the image of the struggling, starving Olympian is still a valid one, especially for those in little-known sports who have never won medals, such as biathlete Jay Hakkinen, who estimates that he gets by on less than $18,000 a year.

Even gold medalists can’t always sustain their Olympic careers, especially in winter sports, which are much more expensive than summer sports. Take Jill Bakken, the bobsled driver who won gold with Vonetta Flowers in 2002. While Flowers, the first black athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold, got lots of attention, Bakken was the forgotten winner.

“You have to be aggressive and creative, and you really have to plan ahead if you want to build a career out of it,” Carlisle said.

Bakken didn’t have enough money to fund her training campaign for 2006. She was putting her expenses on her credit card when she called Carlisle for help. But it was too late to put together any deals. She needed $10,000 and couldn’t raise it. She failed to make the 2006 team.

“It’s tough,” Carlisle said. “When the Olympic flame was extinguished, so was her bobsledding career.”

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald

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