She has competed in three Olympic Games but has never medaled in one, and is competing at the Pyeongchang Games alongside teammates including Lindsey Vonn, who has two U.S. Olympic medals in the sport and has been sponsored by companies including GoPro and Oakley. During training in 2007 for the World Championships, both his legs were injured due to a faulty landing. She has signed endorsements for Cover Girl and Subway. She is the first gymnast to ever be given a perfect score of 10.0 in the 1976 Olympic Games. » LISTEN: 2018 Olympians’ favorite pump-up songs. How to save money: daily, monthly and long term. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. This was deemed a historical breakthrough since it was the first medal ever by a Canadian artistic gymnast and it was a gold medal. She won a total of five gold medals and seven perfect 10 scores at the Olympics. Finishing fourth place in the 500-meter speed skating race at a key 2017 world championship competition earned Mitch Whitmore a nine-month stipend to help fund his training and living expenses. The nine-month stipend amount is based on skaters’ placement at one competition from the previous season — the Olympics or World Single Distances Championships, depending on the year. The league’s salary cap jumped from $70 million last season to $94 million for the upcoming year. For all of the riches of the U.S. team, there is much more sitting on the sidelines. “But … you slip, or just have some little thing go wrong, and it’s hard to eat for several months.”, »SIGN UP: Monitor your finances with NerdWallet to meet your money needs. Durant nudged out tennis star Novak Djokovic as the top-paid Olympian overall. She was also featured in Sports Illustrated in 2017. Despite the stumbles, the U.S. remains an overwhelming favorite to win the gold medal with the latest odds at 1-20. She was the face of Wheaties and was their spokesperson. Her work has been featured by The Associated Press, USA Today and Reuters. Don’t feel too bad for Barnes. She is the very first African to win individual all-around champion in the history of the Olympics. This system — determining skaters’ stipends based on their performance in a single race — puts extra pressure on athletes like Whitmore, who says his biggest money stressor is making rent. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. Michelle Kwan (figure skating) has done voice work on The Simpsons, Family Guy and Mulan II. She is now married to NFL quarterback, Brady Quinn. He almost qualified for another medal, but he didn’t receive it because of controversy during judging. Kevin Durant looks to lead Olympic team to a gold medal. You may opt-out by, EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation BrandVoice. RELATED: 10 Most Valuable Sports Teams In The World. Here is a list of our partners. The best athletes get even more sponsorships after the Olympics — think Wheaties box placements. He is one of the world’s biggest and highest-paid soccer stars, with a $400 million net worth . NerdWallet talked to winter athletes competing in the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, about what being an Olympian means for their budgets. She is now the second-most decorated American gymnast, with Simone Biles having recently taken over her crown. If you find discrepancies with your credit score or information from your credit report, please contact TransUnion® directly. He serves as the vice-chairman of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors and he has been initiated into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. When evaluating offers, please review the financial institution’s Terms and Conditions. The U.S. team already has one title locked up as the top-earning collection of basketball talent ever assembled. Liukin is an American Russian former gymnast. Freestyle skier Jaelin Kauf has cleaned houses and bused restaurant tables. She was in TV commercials in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s for Energizer, McDonald’s, Wheaties, BPA Bowling, Dairy Queen, and Revco. Competing is an honor — and, for many athletes, a financial burden. Portugal failed to get to the medal round, and Ronaldo hasn’t competed in another Olympics since. At age 14, she moved to Iowa and lived with a host family to start formal training with Liang Chow. She garnered 16 Olympic and World Championship medals in all. Whitmore and many other Olympians are stretched thin financially, often footing hefty team fees and travel expenses. Unlike in previous years, U.S. athletes won’t be taxed on the value of their medals if their adjusted gross income is $1 million or less ($500,000 or less if they’re married filing separately). The U.S. men’s basketball team dominated Olympic competition for the first half-century since basketball was introduced to the Games in 1936 in Berlin. She also raised more than $6,650 on the athlete crowdfunding site RallyMe, according to her public campaigns on the site. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Gymnastics is one of the most difficult sports in the world. The biggest sponsorships often go to the top one or two competitors in each sport. In the same year, he made an extraordinary move during the Men’s parallel bars which was later called the “Conner Spin” by gymnasts. He works for gymnastic events on television as a commentator and is also the editor of International Gymnast Magazine. Her extraordinary skills are genetic since her parents were prominent gymnasts in the Soviet Union. (Photo credit: © Troy Tully), “It’s not just, like, ‘Hey, sponsor me because I’m on TV,’” Cook says. The shooting guard made $9.5 million with the Raptors last season, but will almost triple that to $26.5 million in 2016-17. The U.S. men’s team takes on Argentina Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Olympic basketball tournament. The most LOL-worthy things the Internet has to offer. This has inspired her to put up a website and host weekly radio shows. Cook is sponsored by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, her home resort in Mammoth Lakes, California, where she hosts camps, fundraisers and other events. He relies on the performance-based stipends from the U.S. Olympic Committee to pay for rent and food, he says. She was the first athlete spokeswoman for CoverGirl together with Nastia Liukin. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free. She is considered the greatest gymnast in history. A vault maneuver was even named after him. She missed the 1983 World Championships due to an injured wrist. Conner is a retired Olympic gymnast from America. U.S. skaters who place in the top three in an individual event earn the largest stipend; fourth- through eighth-place finishers earn the second-tier stipend amount; and competitors in ninth through 16th land in the third stipend tier. “It’s, ‘Sponsor me because look at the money that I brought you last year in these events and this is what I plan to bring you next year.'”. In the 2016 Olympics, she won again with her teammates Kocian, Hernandez, Biles and Douglas making them the third American women’s team to win gold. Kevin Durant leads the way with earnings of $56.2 million, including $36 million from endorsements with This may be his last shot — he’s considering leaving the sport after this season because he says it’s hard to earn a steady income from speed skating.