Olympic Athlete Compensation
Olympic Athlete Compensation
DAN Management and Organizational Studies Compensation and Benefits Management
Thursday, April 4 2013
Purpose The purpose of this research on compensation of Canadian Olympic athletes is to determine how athletes that represent Canada on the National level are compensated and rewarded for the time they put in to their rigorous training to prepare for an event once every four years. Professional athletes in leagues such as the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball are obviously compensated with a large salary to justify all the time they spend preparing for their respective sports; but Olympic athletes are expected to perform at an equally high level if not higher. The question is how are they able to afford putting in all the training hours and preparation time as well as maintaining diets without a provided salary to do that. Canada has been participating in the Olympic Games for over one hundred years but the reality is that the effort and focus on preparation for the games has come a long way since the early 1900’s. There was a major shift in focus on training and preparation in the recent decades and again the question of how the athletes have been able to support making that shift financially over the years. A comparison between the countries that were dominant in recent Olympics and the compensation they offer their athletes would show if there is interdependence between how the athletes perform and how they are compensated for their work.
Review
An article entitled Canada’s Olympic Athletes Have Regular Jobs, Too was very insightful because it provided a good description of how some of Canada’s Olympic athletes really live. It talks about athletes having to balance an ordinary career with being a high level athlete. The article was especially valuable because it provided personal examples from various Olympians and even how the experiences have changed from time.
DAN Management and Organizational Studies Compensation and Benefits Management
Thursday, April 4 2013
Purpose The purpose of this research on compensation of Canadian Olympic athletes is to determine how athletes that represent Canada on the National level are compensated and rewarded for the time they put in to their rigorous training to prepare for an event once every four years. Professional athletes in leagues such as the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball are obviously compensated with a large salary to justify all the time they spend preparing for their respective sports; but Olympic athletes are expected to perform at an equally high level if not higher. The question is how are they able to afford putting in all the training hours and preparation time as well as maintaining diets without a provided salary to do that. Canada has been participating in the Olympic Games for over one hundred years but the reality is that the effort and focus on preparation for the games has come a long way since the early 1900’s. There was a major shift in focus on training and preparation in the recent decades and again the question of how the athletes have been able to support making that shift financially over the years. A comparison between the countries that were dominant in recent Olympics and the compensation they offer their athletes would show if there is interdependence between how the athletes perform and how they are compensated for their work.
Review
An article entitled Canada’s Olympic Athletes Have Regular Jobs, Too was very insightful because it provided a good description of how some of Canada’s Olympic athletes really live. It talks about athletes having to balance an ordinary career with being a high level athlete. The article was especially valuable because it provided personal examples from various Olympians and even how the experiences have changed from time.