otter wrote:
Also, I had dreams of going to the Olympics for skiing (GS, Super-G, Downhill) but the money ran out before my talent did.
When I was a bit younger I was boarderline top-10 in the country in a sport even fewer people care about, alpine snowboarding. Finished as high as eighth in some bigger national giant slalom events with all the top guys, have raced a lot against AJ Muss who is currently the top American. Parallel giant slalom is the olympic event here which is obviously very niche, and still the talent pool is deeper than you'd imagine. Easily hundreds of fairly talented riders who train very hard come out to the top FIS events, and if you're serious about trying to make the olympic team (US only sends 1-2 per year), you have to spend SO much money and dedicate your life to it.
I am good friends with a woman who was the first woman out (last cut, however makes sense) of the 2014 Sochi team. She did not come from a particularly wealthy background. When she was 16 she started taking winters off school instead of summer to train at Steamboat. After high school she dedicated 6 years of her life to training in Austria. Mom had to take out a second mortgage on their house. She was flying all around the world competing in these hard, hard GS and Slalom events and training year round. And for what? Almost an olympic appearance that wouldn't have put her even close to the podium anyways. Absolutely zero fanfare because it's not a well known sport. Now she coaches high schoolers in Minnesota. I just don't think that is justifiable for most people.