Becoming a Winter Olympian or Paralympian can costs tens of thousands of dollars a year

Now that the Winter Olympics have wrapped up, the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games kick off March 6.

Dozens of athletes will represent Team USA in sled hockey, skiing, wheelchair curling, and snowboarding.

But getting to the Olympics or Paralympics is expensive: It costs competitors an average of $12,000 a year, according to a 2024 report. For winter athletes in particular, the costs can be even higher.

In addition to travel and equipment, many competitors must pay for time in an ice rink or on the slopes.

“You have a private coach, you have a nutritionist, you have a strength and training conditioner, you have mental health professionals that assist,” said Lisa Neirotti, a professor of sports management at George Washington University.

Add in extra-pricey equipment for some winter activities, and Neirotti said athletes spend up to $100,000 a year for some of these sports.

Parents often eat most of the costs for younger athletes, she said, during the years of training it takes to get to the level of joining Team USA.

As for the adult athletes, all that training makes it hard to hold down steady work.

“Realistically, you can't just take time off from a standard job … multiple times a month,” said Paralympic gold medalist Declan Farmer. “Best case scenario, you literally have no other time off. You're only spending all your time off to go train and compete.”

Farmer plays sled hockey for Team USA. 

“We've had some great sled hockey players retire in their mid-20s over the years because they just simply, you know, can't make it work financially,” he said.

Team USA has a fan-supported nonprofit that does help fund athletes.

And a recent $100 million donation will give Paralympians and Olympians some retirement resources. But for most athletes striving along the way, it’s the love of the sport that keeps them going.

Even if it costs them.