For many, winter sports are great fun — but they’re also a luxury. Not just for amateurs, but sometimes for elite athletes too.
At least 19 of them have had to turn to crowdfunding just to get to the starting line of the event kicking off this week in Italy.
They need help with basics like equipment, travel and even tickets to the competitions themselves.
Cormac Comerford, the first Irish male athlete to compete in all four Alpine disciplines, has raised more than €3,000 on GoFundMe for mandatory safety gear after the introduction of stricter safety rules.
The equipment, among other things, includes €500 cut-proof leggings and an airbag system costing €1,500.
Sometimes, the reasons to raise money and drum up support are more personal.
Valentina Aščić, Croatia’s short track skater, wants her family with her in Milan for one of the biggest moments of her career.
But tickets are, in her words, “extremely expensive”, up to €450 per person for a single event and a single day.
“I come from a large family — I have two little brothers and three sisters — who, together with my parents, form my first row of passionate supporters,” she says. “They have been by my side through all the beautiful moments.”
“That is why the opportunity to share even a part of the Olympic Games with them would mean the world to me,” she adds.
Her supporters’ generosity has already granted her €7,000 of the €8,000 she said she needed.
The need for support stretches far beyond Europe, too.
Jamaica’s iconic bobsled team has had to resort to GoFundMe this year to safeguard its very existence.
“You know the story: a tiny Caribbean island, a borrowed sled, and a lane in Olympic history that inspired Cool Runnings and the world”, they said in their fundraising request.
“Almost 40 years later, we’re still that team, a small island program defying gravity, limited resources, and expectations,” they continued. “But right now, we’re at a crossroads: without real support, Jamaica’s bobsleigh program risks being priced out of the Games before we reach the start line in Milan–Cortina 2026.”
Which athlete raised the most money and why?
Canada’s cross-country skier Rémi Drolet receives zero government funding as the result of various bureaucratic reasons. For example, he was not a Sport Canada carded athlete last year or for this upcoming year, meaning he was ineligible for the country’s Athlete Assistance Program which would have given him monthly financial support.
According to his GoFundMe post, he risks being CAD$25,000 (€15,000) out-of-pocket to pay for things like training, early-season racing and cost of living. Yet his more than 70 donors have already transferred him a sizeable $13,530.
The absolute record for this Winter Olympics fundraising race, however, belongs to Laila Edwards, a US ice hockey player.
After asking for help to bring her family with her to Italy, she received more than 600 donations, surpassing a total of US$60,000 (€51,000).
The stories reveal a growing gap between the glowing image of the Games and the financial strains faced by many athletes just to be there.