Essay Why American Olympic Athletes Should Be Paid

American Olympic athletes should be paid more money for training and competing. They currently do not make enough which is leading to less than optimal performance for the American team. Most olympians are making less than $15,000 per year(less than minimum wage), which makes it tough for them to train to their potential and win. America’s top athletes are going to play football, basketball, or baseball instead of competing in the Olympics. We are also being beat by other countries that pay and value their athletes more. American Olympians do not get any pay for being an olympian besides medal bonuses. Most American Olympic athletes are currently making $15,000 or less annually, which is slightly less than the federal minimum wage. Athletes have to balance working a job and the time consuming training that they must do. This results in athletes not getting enough rest, training, or money, which is all problemental and detrimental to their health. If athletes were paid by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), they would be able to financially support themselves, and therefore perform better, which would make money for the USOC.
There were 558 American athletes competing in the olympic games in Rio 2016, while there are currently 1696 athletes in the NFL, and they are paid on average 1.9 million dollars yearly, compared to the 15,000 dollars that olympians make. If olympic athletes get paid more, there would be much more attraction to the olympic sports, and therefore America would score better, because the top athletes would be competing on the olympic level. If being an olympian can be seen as a financially stable career, there would be much more publicity for it, therefore USOC would make more money and therefore be able to pay athletes