Crazy Money With Paul Ollinger

In this episode, Apolo Ohno and I go deep into the economic realities of becoming an Olympian. Due to the steep cost of coaching, training, equipment, and travel, many (perhaps most) athletes and their families go deep into debt in pursuit of a spot on the national team. And even for the few who make it, there is little preparation for post-Games remuneration and little preparation for a job “in the real world.” With eight Olympic medals (two of them gold), Apolo Ohno is America’s most decorated winter Olympian. He won his first major speed skating title at the tender age of 14, after only six months of training. He continued on to a career that played a major role in establishing short-track speed-skating in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games. In his post-skating career, Apolo has worked as a sports analyst for NBC, a global ambassador for the Olympics, and a winner of ABC’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars. He finished the 2014 Ironman World Championship Triathlon in less than ten hours. Apolo now spends