US Olympians paying high price to compete through inflation: 'It's f----d!'

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Olympic athletes are in the same club as millions of Americans impacted by surging inflation.

Consumer prices in the U.S. have risen 20% since 2021. That summer, U.S. athletes took home the most gold medals of any country in the COVID-delayed Tokyo Olympics, barely edging out China, 39-38. 

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But it was a different story, financially, preparing for the Paris Games over the last two years. 

"It’s f---ed! It’s as simple as that, it’s f---ed," silver medalist sprinter Fred Kerley, 29, said to reporters at the USATF Grand Prix on June 8 about the financial conditions American Olympians have faced. 

Because the U.S. government is one of the few in the world not to pay its Olympic athletes, American competitors face even greater challenges compared to other wealthy countries. 

Olympians in the U.S. depend on private sponsorships, merchandising sales and medal bonuses from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to make a living. But the medal bonuses for U.S. athletes are $37,500 for a gold medal, $22,500 for a silver and $15,000 for a bronze.

Fred Kerley of Team USA is shown before the men's 4x100-meter relay final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August 2023. (Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

"I feel like if I was from a different country I’d be living like a king. But living in America, you know how the world and America work at home, a lot of us struggling day in to day out," Kerley said.

When asked how rising inflation has affected his team, Kerley said he’s seen many American athletes in his sport take on a day job for additional income.

"It