Why Families of America’s Olympics Athletes Are Br

[teflep]

Gabby Douglas is America’s newest sweetheart. She’s also its newest millionaire. Her mother, however, is broke.


The 16-year-old gymnast, who became the first black gymnast to win the all-around competition last week in London, stands to make between $1 million and $3 million a year in endorsements, and has already agreed to plaster her infectious smile on the Kellogg’s corn flakes box. Douglas’s forthcoming gold-medal payday makes a new revelation about her family all the more shocking.


Natalie Hawkins, Douglas’s mother, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in Virginia, court documents show. The Chapter 13 filing reveals roughly $80,000 in debts, and will allow her to reorganize her finances to pay down the total over several years. Hawkins, who went on long-term medical disability in 2009, reported a six-month stretch in which the single mother of four had little to no income.


The news comes the day after TMZ broke the story that Ryan Lochte’s parents are facing foreclosure on their Florida home. CitiMortgage is suing the Lochtes, claiming that they stopped making mortgage payments in February 2011. As with Douglas, Lochte, who won five medals in London, is primed for a slew of endorsement deals that couldn’t be better timed for his family.


Both athletes are—at this moment, at least—national heroes and beacons of American patriotism. But the financial strain their years of training put on their families indicates that investing in a future Olympian may not always be a financially sound decision. How did these families get so broke?

Parents of gymnasts, for one, can expect to fork over upward of $1,000 a month to training facilities to get their child in Olympic shape. Travel costs force that total to skyrocket. Leotards and warm-up suits can run $300 to $500 for a complete set. There are entry fees for each meet and competition. When a gymnast is chosen for the U.S. national team and begins traveling internationally, USA Gymnastics begins picking up the cost of training and travel for the gymnast and his or her coach, but any family member who jet-sets with them does so on his or her own dime.


Of course, only gymnasts training at what’s called the “elite” level rack up that kind of bill. Then again, the most promising athletes begin training at that level when they’re 12 or 13 years old, says Karla Grimes, the general manager at the Gage Center training facility in Missouri. That means six years, at least, of 30-hour gym days and, at Gage, $600-a-month training costs.


Eye-popping expenses are par for the course for nearly every Olympic sport. Membership costs at an elite swim club can run $1,500 to $3,000 annually, says Tom Himes, who coached a young Michael Phelps at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Equipment can cost $500 each year. Those slick Speedo Fastskin3 swim trunks Phelps wears? They retail for $395.

For families, there’s the cost of travel and tickets to the events. Ahead of the London Games, Eddie Adams, father of Olympic swimmer Camille Adams, predicted, “It's probably going to be around $15,000 to $20,000 for me, my ex-wife, Camille's twin, my sister, and my sister-in-law to go.” And let’s not forget the grocery bill for those rumored 12,000-calorie, Olympic-size feasts.


Even the more obscure sports—the ones whose stars won’t end up on a corn flakes box or the cover of Vogue—can be prohibitively costly. The annual price of training for Maya Lawrence, an Olympic fencer, is estimated to be $20,000. “It did affect my parents,” she says. “Once I decided I wanted to go to competitions, they really supported me.” Teodor Gheorghe, COO of USA Table Tennis, estimates that top-level players shell out $15,000 for each of the six to eight years it takes to perfect their games; a good paddle alone costs $300.


And with athletes devoting essentially their whole lives to training, there’s typically no room for side jobs or normal careers. While some competitors snag sponsorship deals to offset the lack of steady income, others, like weightlifter Sarah Robles, barely scrape by. The 23-year-old first-time Olympian lived on just $400 a month—her stipend from U.S.A. weightlifting—as she trained full-time for the London Games.

more...
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/07/gabby-douglas-ryan-lochte-why-families-of-america-s-olympics-athletes-are-broke.html

[onomatopoeia]

Aug 7, 2012 20:49:57 GMT -5 teflep said:

The news comes the day after TMZ broke the story that Ryan Lochte’s parents are facing foreclosure on their Florida home. CitiMortgage is suing the Lochtes, claiming that they stopped making mortgage payments in February 2011. As with Douglas, Lochte, who won five medals in London, is primed for a slew of endorsement deals that couldn’t be better timed for his family.


more...
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/07/gabby-douglas-ryan-lochte-why-families-of-america-s-olympics-athletes-are-broke.html

And he spent over 20K on grills before coming to the Olympics, instead of helping his family out? Wow, he is a douche.

Joking aside, that's really sad. As a parent, where do you draw the line? I'm sure Gabby's mother didn't foresee $1000+ a month costs when she first signed her daughter up for gymnastics. At what point do you finally say to your child that their dream is too expensive, especially when everyone is filling their head with Olympic glory? Then again, at what point do you tell your other children that their sibling's gymnastics/swimming/fencing is more important than a stable roof over their head? What kind of pressure is on these young kids to win, when it literally means supporting their family?

[Deleted]

it is expensive. My sister and I used to joke that my mother spent more on soccer for my youngest sister than she did on our private school tuitions.

My couins are at a fairly high level in gymnastics. I can't fathom how much they must spend on gymnastics btwn travel to meets and being at the gym 2+ hours every day.

A friend was complaining last night that her son wants to do hockey this year and it $1100 for the year not including the travel and he's 8.

I always joke that my boys are doing track because no gets cut and it is cheap :-).

On a side note, there have been several articles in the Times of London about how many of the GB olympians are from the private school system and not state schools.

I'm not suggesting we become the former soviet block or china but there has to be some sort of medium.

[decemberwedding07]

I thought dressage was the only expensive sport?

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2012 9:28:47 GMT -5 decemberwedding07 said:

I thought dressage was the only expensive sport?

I know people paying over $300/mo for their 7 year olds to do competitive gymnastics. My neighbors are homeschooling their daughter because of gymnastics. (homeschooling may be "free" but what about the loss of the mother's income)

[heyjude]

But surely the Giffords get a $77k tax write off?

[mmmomof2]

Think of all the elite gymnasts whose parents are spending $1,000s a month who *didn't* make the Olympics. At least they'll get a NCAA scholarship (assuming they don't have injuries!).

[marie427]

At least with some sports, this seems like it would be such a wash anyway. Sure, any financial help for college is great but the out-of-pocket costs from when the kid begins competing in a sport are still exorbitant. You're going to be paying a shitload of money no matter what.

[fluff]

Aug 8, 2012 9:13:23 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

Aug 7, 2012 20:49:57 GMT -5 teflep said:

The news comes the day after TMZ broke the story that Ryan Lochte’s parents are facing foreclosure on their Florida home. CitiMortgage is suing the Lochtes, claiming that they stopped making mortgage payments in February 2011. As with Douglas, Lochte, who won five medals in London, is primed for a slew of endorsement deals that couldn’t be better timed for his family.


more...
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/07/gabby-douglas-ryan-lochte-why-families-of-america-s-olympics-athletes-are-broke.html

And he spent over 20K on grills before coming to the Olympics, instead of helping his family out? Wow, he is a douche.

I read an article where his mom said she refuses to take any of the money he has offered to give them. (I agree that he is a douche, though.)

[msmerymac]

Aug 8, 2012 9:19:16 GMT -5 @septimus said:

I always joke that my boys are doing track because no gets cut and it is cheap :-).

My coworker's son is at hockey camp now, and he was complaining about the expense. Part of it is for charity and a tax write-off, but we were also joking about why he didn't just decide to join basketball.

[onomatopoeia]

Aug 8, 2012 11:26:39 GMT -5 fluff said:

Aug 8, 2012 9:13:23 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

And he spent over 20K on grills before coming to the Olympics, instead of helping his family out? Wow, he is a douche.

I read an article where his mom said she refuses to take any of the money he has offered to give them. (I agree that he is a douche, though.)

That's better, but still. You'd think with his parents facing bankruptcy (even if it has nothing to do with his training costs, which I doubt) he'd have a little more common sense/grace than to spend exorbitant amounts of money on diamonds brackets for his teeth. Now I'm just kicking the "Ryan Lochte is a douche" dead horse though.