Olympic Sacrifices

It isn’t everyday you get to sit in a small room with Olympic Athletes and hopefuls. Saturday evening my class had the opportunity to do just that at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. We learned the ins and outs of how each athlete became involved with USA olympics. This included a 26 year old skeleton athlete who was scouted after playing college field hockey at American University, and a luge athlete who was identified in a nationwide talent search funded by Verizon. The other three athletes, all 16 and under, were aerial skiers; two became involved through USA Gymnastics and the third: a ski instructor from Indiana was recommend for the program by his boss. The aerial skiers discussed summer jumping into aerated pools and on trampolines, the role of weather, and the process of clearing jumps for snow after success in the pool. The luge athlete, who competed in Sochi, described the Olympics as everything you could imagine and more. While all this information was interesting it was actually the hardships they expressed that surprised me.

    It is not news that Olympic Athletes make numerous sacrifices to train including missing high school, living away from their family in order to train with the best, and putting in countless hours of taxing practice. It was, however, surprising to me that many of the athletes have other jobs and attend online college while training. The skeleton athlete detailed how she works in the summers to pay her way through graduate school, and often has to cover her own travel expenses on top of rigorous training. The younger three skiers described training for 6 hours a day only to come back to do three hours of online school. In terms of finances, the younger skiers families are responsible for equipment and traveling.

     I think I had a glamorized idea of the lifestyle of an Olympic Athlete, but speaking with the athletes at the training center opened my eyes to the difficulties they face on a daily basis. Not every Olympian gets the sponsorships that household names, like Michael Phelps and Lindsey Vonn, receive. While I doubt any Olympian regrets their experience, it isn’t always a path to a life of luxury.

     I have always idolized Olympians, but I certainly have a newfound respect for the athletes. Team USA bores the hardships of regimented training, but every hour leads to the culmination of a dream: competing in the Olympic Games.