Crouser told CNBC he cooks his meals like he would for a family of four, giving one serving to his girlfriend, and he eats the other three portions. His weekly Sam’s Club trip sets him back about $200 to $250. That’s about $1,000 on groceries a month—over twice the average of an American household’s costs of $475.25.

“The way that I look at it is that it’s a pretty significant investment in my athletic performance,” Crouser said. 

Crouser consumes about 5,000 calories a day to retain his stature—six-foot-seven and 320 pounds—and remain competitive as a world-record holder and two-time Olympic champion with high hopes of a third medal ahead of this month’s Paris Olympics. He views his steep food costs similar to job expenses, buying grass-fed beef and organic products, despite the bigger bills.

“If I’m getting higher quality food in, I’m getting higher quality training out,” he said. “I can tell without a doubt that I train better and perform better. As an investment, it makes financial sense.”

But the cost of preparing for the Olympics goes beyond what’s on the dinner table. Training as a professional athlete is expensive, and the high price point to even arrive at the games, let alone make a living as a full-time professional like Crouser, can be a meaningful barrier to those hoping to compete on sport’s biggest stage. U.S. athletes may spend up to $100,000 preparing for the games. 

“It’s astronomical,” skeleton bobsled racer Kyle Tress, who competed in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, told Mental Floss. “A competition sled alone costs well over $10,000, and you have to buy new runners at $1,000 each. Then there’s travel. Some of these places, like a ski resort in France, aren’t easy to get to.”

Crouser gets some financial help from sponsors, including a collaboration with supplement company Thorne; a partnership with Nike, which pays him quarterly; and grants from sports governing body USA Track & Field, which handles the athlete’s travel expenses. Even the champion will admit being a full-time athlete wasn’t a given, despite coming from a family of Olympic track-and-field competitors. Crouser was pursuing a masters’ degree at the University of Texas in 2015 ahead of his 2016 Olympic debut and admitted the financial support and stability has eased his anxieties about competing professionally.

“It’s a total buy-in at this point for me,” Crouser told Forbes in 2019. “I really enjoy it because I feel like I can completely commit to it.”

The cost of doing business

Other Olympians aren’t as financially supported as Crouser. Raleigh, North Carolina, native Dylan Beard worked 40-hour weeks behind the deli counter at Walmart while training for the Olympic trials for the 60-meter hurdles. Beard, with a master’s degree in public health to fall back on, is saving his Walmart paychecks to cover his travel expenses to Paris (though the International Olympic Committee does cover expenses for many athletes). It’s a point of pride for the 25-year-old.

“At the end of the day, my name is attached to what I’m doing,” he said. “So yes, I’m working at Walmart in the deli, but it still represents me, which represents a lot of other people.”

Other prospective Olympians balance training with 9-to-5 office jobs, while others make a living as horticulturists or dentists.

While these athletes may be competing at the highest echelon of their respective sports, even becoming an Olympic champion isn’t enough to become financially stable. While earnings vary by country, the U.S. Olympic Committee awards gold medalists $37,500, while silver medalists earn $22,500, and bronze awardees get $15,000. The median annual income for all U.S. workers was $48,060 in 2023.

For athletes not familiar with the cost of competing with no guarantee of financial security, the comparatively paltry earnings for Olympians can come as a blow to one’s dreams.

“Being unsponsored, unpaid, and underfunded in a sport takes a serious toll on Team USA athletes, coaches, and our equipment,” sprint kayak Olympian Shaye Hatchette told Vice.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have increased efforts to support athletes, including awarding $1.3 million in tuition grants in 2023 and covering insurance premiums for its Olympians and Paralympians, as well as aspiring athletes, per its 2023 Impact Report. The committee announced Monday a campaign to raise $500 million to invest in education opportunities, innovation, and wellness for U.S. athletes ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

As a result of the financial uncertainty of being an Olympic athlete, competitors increasingly rely on sponsorships. While lucrative for athletes on a shoestring budget, these brand partnerships have become established advertising avenues and exercises in building brand awareness. For athletes like LeBron James, who earn millions in salary and brand endorsements annually, the arrangement is profitable. But for some Olympic hopefuls, it’s just too much.

“Knowing that without funding, those dreams become harder to reach, many decide to leave the sport,” Hatchette said. “And those that choose to stay must be comfortable with spending almost everything they earn to train at this level.”