2026年2月19日 / 美国东部时间下午12:55 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
大多数运动员需要训练数年才能晋级奥运会，但在精英级别竞技并不总是意味着高薪。一些美国奥运选手还必须从事一份工作，以资助他们在世界最大舞台上竞争所需的多年训练费用。
2026年米兰-科尔蒂纳冬季奥运会的部分参赛运动员，包括美国在各自项目中争夺金牌的选手，回国后将从事律师、咖啡师、房产经纪人、牙医和其他专业人士的工作。
这种平衡反映了一些奥运选手即使达到竞技巅峰也面临的经济挑战。虽然一些最知名的运动员从赞助和其他利润丰厚的交易中赚取数百万美元，但他们是例外而非常态。
美国冰壶运动员科里·德罗普金和他的混合双人冰壶搭档科里·蒂埃斯，都来自明尼苏达州德卢斯，在2026年奥运会混合双人冰壶项目中获得银牌。比赛开始前，德罗普金告诉当地新闻电视台KARE 11，他在冰壶训练之余还要从事全职房产经纪人工作。
“我有两份全职工作，一份是冰壶，另一份是房产经纪人，”他向该媒体透露。
除了拥有奥运银牌得主的头衔外，蒂埃斯还有另一个身份：废水检测员。“我很感激能有一份在我参加冰壶比赛期间能支付账单的工作，”蒂埃斯告诉KARE 11。
国际奥委会（IOC）上周在一份声明中告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，“相当一部分冬奥会运动员”在进行精英水平训练的同时，还兼顾学业和职业发展。
美国冰壶运动员塔拉·彼得森根据其美国奥委会资料显示，她还是明尼苏达州白熊湖伊萨克森温和牙科诊所的持牌牙医。
其他国家的运动员也通过从事第二份工作来支持他们的运动生涯。例如，国际奥委会特别提到墨西哥的雷吉娜·马丁内斯——该国首位奥运越野滑雪选手，她在佛罗里达州迈阿密的一家急诊室担任医生。马丁内斯在一段社交媒体视频中表示，她还通过遛狗来为奥运征程筹集资金。
国际奥委会不会向奥运选手颁发奖金，即使他们登上领奖台。不过，各国国家奥委会会提供包括现金奖励在内的激励措施。美国奥委会和残奥委会为金牌得主奖励37,500美元，银牌得主22,500美元，铜牌得主15,000美元。
今年，Stone Ridge Holdings Group首席执行官罗斯·史蒂文斯承诺，将为每位参加奥运会的美国奥运选手提供20万美元的经济补贴。
“奥运会和残奥会是人类卓越的终极象征。我不认为经济不安全会阻止我们国家的精英运动员突破卓越的新边界，”史蒂文斯在去年宣布这项资助时表示。
虽然一些奥运选手在经济上面临困境，但他们的处境与美国顶尖运动员之间存在巨大差异。例如，美国单板滑雪运动员克洛伊·金每年收入数百万美元，而自由式滑雪运动员谷爱凌在过去12个月收入2300万美元（《福布斯》数据）。
夏季奥运会选手，包括篮球、高尔夫和网球职业选手，也是世界上收入最高的运动员之一，部分原因是这些运动的受欢迎程度，相比之下，如冰壶等不太受关注的冬季项目则不然。
以下是一些在意大利为夺金同时从事其他工作的奥运选手：
对身体要求高的工作
美国单板滑雪运动员尼克·鲍姆加特纳（44岁）在米兰单板滑雪越野赛中获得第七名，他在社交媒体上自称#蓝领奥运选手，这是指他在休赛期从事混凝土浇筑工作。根据美国滑雪和单板滑雪队资料，他的日常工作为其职业单板滑雪生涯提供了资金支持。
“这一直很艰难，但你要么找借口，要么想办法实现目标，”他周三告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻记者凯利·奥格雷迪。“对我来说，混凝土工作非常辛苦，对背部和身体都有很大压力，但这是我实现目标的方式。”
鲍姆加特纳在2022年冬奥会上与队友林赛·雅各布ellis合作获得混合单板滑雪越野赛金牌，他表示，赢得最高奖项让他能让身体得到一些休息。
“在此之前，我会在夏天非常努力地工作并赚很多钱，到了下雪的时候，工作就会停止。我会被解雇，领取失业救济金，然后我就可以去滑雪了。”
获得奥运金牌后，他成为企业活动的主题演讲嘉宾，从而能在不损害身体的情况下赚钱。
“因为浇筑混凝土和保持年轻……这两者不太兼容，”他说。
他承认作为奥运选手面临的身体和经济挑战。
“这很艰难，绝对不容易……你要么找到方法为之奋斗，要么就无法实现目标，”他表示。
银牌配枫糖浆工作
34岁的高山滑雪运动员瑞安·科克伦-西格尔在米兰超级大回转项目中获得银牌，除奥运奖牌得主外，他还有另外两个身份。
根据美国滑雪和单板滑雪队资料，他目前正在佛蒙特大学攻读工程学学位，同时在佛蒙特州家族经营的枫糖浆农场和商店Cochran’s Slopeside Syrup工作。
学业为雪场生活带来平衡
美国奥运跳台滑雪选手佩奇·琼斯也在北达科他大学攻读生物医学工程。她告诉该校在线新闻媒体UND Today，在训练和参加奥运会的同时攻读学位实际上与她的运动追求相辅相成，因为她着眼于雪场之外的人生道路。
“我一直认为学校是我作为运动员生活的平衡。当我不在雪坡上时，这给了我一些思考的事情。我不想一直纠结于跳台滑雪——它很容易让人陷入思考，尤其是当跳跃只有约五秒钟时，”琼斯告诉UND Today。
费用未被覆盖
美国高山滑雪运动员基利·卡什曼在超级大回转项目中获得第15名，根据美国滑雪和单板滑雪队资料，她在淡季还在加利福尼亚州派恩克里斯特的家族咖啡店The Serene Bean担任咖啡师。
在她的网站上，她宣传销售贴纸和T恤等商品，收益用于补贴她的训练和旅行费用。她描述了在精英级别训练所面临的经济挑战。
“不幸的是，国家管理机构并不覆盖最高级别训练和比赛的所有成本，”她说。“通过支持我，你帮助我追逐这个梦想并让我能继续在最高级别比赛。感谢你参与这段旅程。”
卡什曼从米兰回国后告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，她在The Serene Bean的收入微薄，但她的明星效应有助于提高销售额。
“我小时候在那里工作了很多，这确实资助了我的滑雪生涯，”她说。
美国滑雪和单板滑雪队现在覆盖了她的训练和旅行费用，但她需要用比赛季中根据成绩赚取的收入支付父亲和私人教练的随行费用。
“我也要支付他的费用，所以这并不便宜，”卡什曼告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。“如果你滑得快且成绩好，那就好，但如果你滑得不快，你可能赚不到一分钱。”
Olympians going for gold juggle day jobs to bring in some green
February 19, 2026 / 12:55 PM EST / CBS News
Most athletes train for years to reach the Olympics, but competing at an elite level doesn’t always come with elite pay. Some U.S. Olympians must also hold down a job to help fund the years of training required to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
Some athletes competing in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, including Americans vying for gold in their respective sports, will return home to jobs as attorneys, baristas, realtors, dentists and other types of professionals.
The balancing act reflects the financial challenges faced by some Olympic athletes even after reaching the pinnacle of athletic performance. While some of the best-known athletes earn millions from sponsorships and other lucrative deals, they are the exception, rather than the norm.
American curler Korey Dropkin and his mixed doubles curling partner, Cory Thiesse, both of Duluth, Minnesota, won silver medals in mixed doubles curling at the 2026 Olympics. Before the games began, Dropkin told local news station KARE 11 that he balances curling with a full-time career as a local realtor.
“I have two full-time jobs. One is curling … my other job is a realtor,” he told the outlet.
In addition to holding the title of an Olympic silver medalist, Thiesse also has another title: wastewater tester. “I feel grateful that I have a job that pays the bills while I go compete in curling,” Thiesse told KARE 11.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told CBS News in a statement last week that “a significant proportion of Winter Olympic athletes” balance elite training with academic and professional pursuits.
USA curler Tara Peterson is also a licensed dentist who practices at Isaacson Gentle Dentistry in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, according to her Team USA profile.
Tara Peterson of the U.S. Olympic curling team celebrates as she competes during a match at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 19, 2026, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Carmen Mandato / Getty Images
Athletes from other countries also hold second jobs to support their athletic careers. For example, the IOC highlighted Mexico’s Regina Martínez, the country’s first Olympic cross-country skier, who works as a Miami, Florida-based emergency room doctor. Martinez said she also walked dogs to finance her Olympic journey, according to a social media video.
The IOC does not award Olympians prize money, even when they make the podium. Countries’ national Olympic bodies do offer incentives, though, including cash bonuses. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee awards athletes $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for a silver medal, and $15,000 for a bronze medal.
This year, Ross Stevens, CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, pledged to give every U.S. Olympian $200,000 in financial benefits for each Olympics in which they compete.
“The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the ultimate symbol of human excellence. I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said in a statement last year when the gift was announced.
While some Olympic athletes can struggle financially, there’s a wide discrepancy between their circumstances and those of the top-earning U.S. athletes. For example, American snowboarder Chloe Kim earns millions annually, while Eileen Gu, an American freestyle skier, earned $23 million over the past 12 months, according to Forbes.
Summer Olympians, including basketball, golf, and tennis pros, are also among the highest-paid athletes in the world, in part because of the popularity of such sports, in contrast to less visible winter sports, like curling, for example.
Here are some of the other jobs Olympians hold while also going for gold in Italy.
Hard on the body
American snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, 44, who placed seventh in the snowboard cross in Milan, calls himself the #BlueCollarOlympian on social media — a nod to his work pouring concrete in the off-season. His day job helped finance his professional snowboard career, according to his U.S. Ski and Snowboard team profile.
“It’s always been tough. But you either believe the excuses, or your find a way to make it happen,” he told CBS News’ Kelly O’Grady Wednesday. “And for me, concrete, which is a terribly hard job, it’s hard on the back, it’s hard on the body, but for me, it was my way to do this.”
U.S. Olympic team member Nick Baumgartner celebrates after competing in a Men’s Snowboard Cross race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 12, 2026, in Livigno, Italy. Hannah Peters / Getty Images
Baumgartner, who won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics with teammate Lindsey Jacobellis in mixed snowboard cross, said that winning the top prize in the event allowed him to give his body a bit of a break.
Before that, he said he would “work really hard and make a lot of money in the summer, and when it started to snow, they would shut it down. I would get laid off, and I’d get unemployment. Then I’d get paid, and I would go snowboard.”
Holding an Olympic gold medal catapulted him to the ranks of keynote speaker at corporate events, so he could make money “without destroying my body.”
“Because pouring concrete and staying young … they don’t mix,” he said.
He acknowledged the physical — and financial — challenges of being an Olympian.
“It’s tough. It’s definitely not easy …. you either find a way to fight for it, or it doesn’t happen,” he said.
A silver medal with a side of maple syrup
Alpine skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 34, who won a silver medal in the Super-G event in Milan, holds two other titles, in addition to Olympic medal winner.
He is currently studying engineering at the University of Vermont, and also works at his family’s maple syrup farm and shop, Cochran’s Slopeside Syrup, in Vermont, according to his U.S. Ski and Snowboard team bio.
Studies give “balance” to life on the slopes
U.S. Olympic ski jumper Paige Jones also studies biomedical engineering at the University of North Dakota. She told UND Today, the university’s online news source, that working toward a degree while training and competing in the Olympics actually complements her athletic pursuits, as she looks down the road to life beyond the slopes.
“I always think of school as a balance to my life as an athlete. It gives me something to think about when I’m not on the hill. I don’t want to be ruminating about ski jumping all the time — it’s so easy to get in your head, especially when the jump only lasts about five seconds,” Jones told UND Today.
Costs aren’t covered
American alpine ski racer Keely Cashman, who placed 15th in Super Giant Slalom, also works as barista at The Serene Bean, her family’s coffee shop in Pinecrest, California, during the off-season, according to her U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team bio.
On her website, she advertises merchandise, including stickers and t-shirts, for sale. Proceeds subsidize her training and travel costs. She described the financial challenges that come with training at the elite level.
“Unfortunately, some of the costs that come with training and competing at the highest level are not covered by the national governing body,” she said. “By supporting me, you’re helping me chase this dream and allowing me to continue competing at the highest level. Thank you for being part of the journey.”
Cashman told CBS News this week after she had returned home from Milan that her Serene Bean earnings are modest, but that her star power helps boost sales.
“I worked there a lot growing up, and it definitely helped fund my skiing career,” she said.
U.S. Olympic ski team member Keely Cashman competes during the Women’s Super G at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 12, 2026, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard team now covers her training and travel expenses, but she pays for her dad, her personal coach, to travel with her when she practices and competes, with income she earns based on her results at races throughout the competitive season.
“I cover his costs as well, so it’s not cheap,” Cashman told CBS News. “If you’re skiing fast and having great results, it’s good, but if you’re not skiing fast, you can be making absolutely no money.”