I have questions about the Olympics

[jinkies]

I realize no one here probably has the answer to all of these questions. But this is what I wonder about while watching. 

1. For team sports, how are the teams chosen? Are the players scouted and invited to join? Are there tryouts? Like, for men's basketball, how did they decide which NBA players were on the team? Once chosen, do the team members have to pick up and move to train together for the months leading up to the Olympics? For sports without big payouts or endorsements (I'm thinking, for example, of the 8-person rowing teams, or field hockey), the logistics of the teams seem much more complicated than individual sports. 

2. Are Olympic level athletes able to hold down day jobs? Or do they mostly survive by giving lessons in their sport, or being supported by family members? I know quite a few are probably still college students, but there are a significant number that are older. I'm sure the Katie Ledecky/Michael Phelps/Gabby Douglas/ Kerry Walsh level athletes have endorsements. But I'm intrigued by, like, the ping pong players or kayakers or the water polo goalie. 

3.  How do you become a coach of an Olympic team? Is it like a regular job, where it's yours until you resign or are fired? Or is the coach selected every 4 years the same way the team members are? Are they paid? I know the athletes generally aren't. 

 

[pandora89]

2. I think it depends on the sport/age of the athlete. H's BFF rows for team Canada "professionally" and for the Olympic team. When he was selected his full time job became rowing. He gets paid a monthly salary. They also provide him with a large amount of the food he eats because they are on a pretty strict food regiment (and they eat an insane amount of food). He trains 3 times a day almost everyday so he wouldn't have time to hold another job  and is constantly travelling all over the world for competitions/regattas etc.

eta - he has been training with Team Canada for the last 4 years and so has been paid by them since. He wasn't selected onto the Olympic rowing team till earlier this year.

[nikki25]

Aug 12, 2016 11:20:10 GMT -5 jinkies said:

I realize no one here probably has the answer to all of these questions. But this is what I wonder about while watching. 

1. For team sports, how are the teams chosen? Are the players scouted and invited to join? Are there tryouts? Like, for men's basketball, how did they decide which NBA players were on the team? Once chosen, do the team members have to pick up and move to train together for the months leading up to the Olympics? For sports without big payouts or endorsements (I'm thinking, for example, of the 8-person rowing teams, or field hockey), the logistics of the teams seem much more complicated than individual sports. 

2. Are Olympic level athletes able to hold down day jobs? Or do they mostly survive by giving lessons in their sport, or being supported by family members? I know quite a few are probably still college students, but there are a significant number that are older. I'm sure the Katie Ledecky/Michael Phelps/Gabby Douglas/ Kerry Walsh level athletes have endorsements. But I'm intrigued by, like, the ping pong players or kayakers or the water polo goalie. 

3.  How do you become a coach of an Olympic team? Is it like a regular job, where it's yours until you resign or are fired? Or is the coach selected every 4 years the same way the team members are? Are they paid? I know the athletes generally aren't. 

 

1. Depends. Most have to qualify through try-outs to make it. The NBA selects the players for basketball. Most teams are already teams and they tryout as a team to qualify example rowing. Teams are usually not made up of people that don't know each other but I could be wrong.

2. Most have day jobs like us and train on the side. Not really "side" but it is in addition to their normal life.

3. Most coaches are their normal coaches that train them daily. There are exceptions such as gymnastics. A team coach is selected to limit having 181876 coaches there. At a regular meet each gymnast is there with their regular coach only the Olympics is different. I assume other sports such as basketball, field hockey and soccer follow the same protocol of having one coach selected by a committee.

[nikki25]

Aug 12, 2016 11:27:00 GMT -5 pandora89 said:

2. I think it depends on the sport/age of the athlete. H's BFF rows for team Canada "professionally" and for the Olympic team. When he was selected his full time job became rowing. He gets paid a monthly salary. They also provide him with a large amount of the food he eats because they are on a pretty strict food regiment (and they eat an insane amount of food). He trains 3 times a day almost everyday so he wouldn't have time to hold another job  and is constantly travelling all over the world for competitions/regattas etc.

Good point. I think overall most have day jobs and continue training in their sport. Once selected for the team all focus is on the sport. I didn't realize they received a stipend but that makes complete sense so they can focus on their event.

[pandora89]

Aug 12, 2016 11:33:59 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Aug 12, 2016 11:27:00 GMT -5 pandora89 said:

2. I think it depends on the sport/age of the athlete. H's BFF rows for team Canada "professionally" and for the Olympic team. When he was selected his full time job became rowing. He gets paid a monthly salary. They also provide him with a large amount of the food he eats because they are on a pretty strict food regiment (and they eat an insane amount of food). He trains 3 times a day almost everyday so he wouldn't have time to hold another job  and is constantly travelling all over the world for competitions/regattas etc.

Good point. I think overall most have day jobs and continue training in their sport. Once selected for the team all focus is on the sport. I didn't realize they received a stipend but that makes complete sense so they can focus on their event.

The stipend he receives is quite generous as well, considering some of his living expenses are covered (I think they also pay for his cell phone), and others he receives a discount on.

He has been rowing with Team Canada and has been paid by them since before the 2012 Olympics but he wasn't officially selected to row for the Olympic team till earlier this year. But then again, he is Canadian so it could differ by country. I know Canada recently put a lot of money into their Olympic training programs.

ETA - But then again, one of the swimmers is local to me and is a full time student and goes to the public high school.

[Smolinsk]

My husband was in training for Greco-Roman wrestling at the Olympic training center until 2012. The athletes there aren't able to have a day job, they're required to be at all practices. They practiced Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 9am and 4pm, and Wednesday and Saturday at 9am. If they live on complex, their room and board is taken care of but you can't live on complex if you're married, have children, or pets. If you rank top three in your weight class you receive a stipend, I think it's $1200 for first, $650 for second and $375 for third. All sports are different, some don't have a set training location and the athletes may have more flexibility to work or may receive larger stipends but I don't think that's the case for the majority.

I'm not sure how sports with professional athletes picks their team but for volleyball the national team lives in Southern California and trains and competes with each other all throughout the year and then the Olympic team is selected from that pool of athletes.

[sugarbear]

The US rowing stipend is not particularly generous, but the athletes are taken care of while they are training. They go to training and selection camps at one of two training centers, and then based on results, are invited to stay. If they don't get selected then, they can continue training on their own, and hope to win a race in a specific boat (they can essentially mount a challenge to a training center boat).

[Deleted]

So much depends on the sport and country. The national level organization for the sport usually sets the selection and training criteria. In some more skill, less fitness based sports like shooting it's possible to have a day job.

I would say most of the athletes you are watching on tv train full time and do not have a full-time job.

I took a run at making the 2004 Olympic team. Because of my results in 2003 I made enough through a government monthly living allowance and some medal bonuses to live somewhat comfortably. Prior to that I had the lowest level of funding, like $500/month, was training full-time (a must for my sport) and basically lived off of a credit card. I'm in Canada.

[amberlyrose]

I went to college in the same city as an Olympic training center and we always had athletes in our class. It was fun when we had to do group projects, but Susie couldn't help with presentations because she needed to compete for worlds or something So some do go to school.
My ex-bf's brother was picked up for running straight from West Point. He was technically stationed at an army base but trained at the OTC for his full time job and did some work at nearby recruiting stations. If he didn't make the team for the next Olympics, he had to go back to his original position in the military.

[heywhat]

Companies sponsor athletes too, not just the Micheal Phelps types. New Balance has multiple teammembers competing in the Olympics: www.newbalance.com/sports-hub---athlete-profiles/

Home Depot used to sponsor tons of Olympians: www.wsj.com/articles/SB123137607705762973