What it costs to become an Olympian or Paralympian

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: What it costs to become an Olympian or Paralympian
Date: February 26, 2026
Host: David Brancaccio
Reporter: Kimberly Adams

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Brief Overview

This episode of Marketplace Morning Report delves into the rising costs associated with becoming an Olympic or Paralympic athlete, particularly as the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games approach. The conversation exposes the financial hurdles faced by aspiring athletes—especially those in winter sports—and examines how this financial burden impacts not only their careers, but also the broader accessibility and diversity of elite athletic competition.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

FDA Crackdown on Compounded Weight Loss Drugs (00:55–04:14)

• Current Regulatory Debate:
  The first segment covers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's intention to regulate compounded versions of GLP1 weight loss drugs, a market currently exploited by compounding pharmacies.
• Regulatory Loopholes:
  • “Compounding laws have a lot of loopholes. If pharmacies were to customize the product...they can continue compounding even though the drug is not in shortage.”*
    — Marta Voshinska, Brookings Institution (01:52)
• Quality and Safety Concerns:
  • “My concern was that the compounding pharmacies have been importing product. That's basically where the company sets their own standards... That makes me very nervous that we don't have a set standard for these products and it's being used by millions of patients.”*
    — Marta Voshinska (03:40)
• Economic Shifts:
  • Major companies like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have cut their prices, possibly changing the regulatory and commercial landscape.
  • FDA aims to use “all available compliance and enforcement tools” to protect agreements with major pharmaceutical manufacturers. (02:18)
• Quote on Pill Innovation:
  • “The fact that they're now shifting towards selling pills really makes a difference in terms of the ability to produce a lot of product quickly. Injectable products really have major bottlenecks in production.”*
    — Marta Voshinska (03:19)

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The True Cost of Becoming an Olympian or Paralympian (06:29–08:02)

• Overview of Expenses:
  Reporter Kimberly Adams highlights the financial strain on athletes aiming for the Olympics or Paralympics, especially in winter sports.
  • Annual costs can average $12,000, but can exceed $100,000 for certain sports with specialized equipment. (06:29–06:54)
• Expert Commentary:
  • “You have a private coach, you have a nutritionist, you have a strength and training conditioner. You have mental health professionals that assist.”*
    — Marta Voshinska, guest expert (06:36)
  • Equipment for some winter sports is especially pricey:
    • “That takes up to 100,000 a year for some of these sports.”*
      — Lisa Noirotti, sports management professor (06:54)
• Family & Personal Sacrifice:
  • Parents often absorb the costs during an athlete’s youth.
  • Adult athletes struggle to balance training with holding steady jobs.
  • “Realistically, you can't just take time off from a standard job multiple times a month and then, you know, best case scenario, you literally have no other time off. You're only spending all your time off to go train and compete.”*
    — Declan Farmer, Paralympic sled hockey gold medalist (07:12)
• Financial Sustainability:
  • Many promising athletes retire young due to financial pressure.
  • “We've had some great sled hockey players retire in their mid-20s... because they just simply, you know, can't make it work financially.”*
    — Declan Farmer (07:31)
• Support Systems:
  • Team USA’s nonprofit and a recent $100 million donation aim to provide support and retirement resources for athletes.
  • Despite this, most athletes self-fund their journey, driven by passion for their sport.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On regulatory loopholes and lack of standards:
  “That makes me very nervous that we don't have a set standard for these products and it's being used by millions of patients.”
  — Marta Voshinska (03:40)

• On high annual athlete expenses:
  “That takes up to 100,000 a year for some of these sports.”
  — Lisa Noirotti (06:54)

• On the impossibility of balancing work and training:
  “Realistically, you can't just take time off from a standard job multiple times a month... You're only spending all your time off to go train and compete.”
  — Declan Farmer (07:12)

• On why athletes persist despite challenges:
  “It's the love of the sport that keeps them going, even if it costs them.”
  — Kimberly Adams (07:56)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:55–04:14: FDA regulation of compounded weight loss drugs with expert insights from Marta Voshinska
• 06:29–07:12: Financial realities and breakdown of costs for Olympic/Paralympic athletes
• 07:12–07:38: Declan Farmer discusses athlete work-life bottlenecks and early retirements
• 07:38–08:02: Current efforts to financially support Team USA athletes & the enduring economic struggle

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Conclusion

This episode paints a vivid picture of the financial barriers that shape the dreams and realities of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls. While some increased nonprofit support and donations offer hope, the overwhelming majority of athletes—especially those in high-cost winter sports—still face enormous personal and family sacrifices. The conversation underscores the need for broader support structures to ensure that athletic excellence isn’t reserved only for those who can afford it.

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Transcript

[Marketplace Host]

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[David Brancaccio]

job is it to make sure off brand weight loss compounds are up to snuff? David I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. The Food and Drug Administration says it's preparing to reign in a key corner of the prescription weight loss drug market. Compounding pharmacies and telehealth companies that mix together components and dispense lower cost versions of these medicines. These represent competition to the rights holders of GLP1 drugs, Novo Nordisk of Denmark and Eli Lilly of Indiana. Originally the government allowed the off brand system to deal with the shortage. Marta Voshinska is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institute center on Health Policy. She joins us now. Welcome.

[Marta Voshinska]

Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.

[David Brancaccio]

I want to start with compounders. They were allowed to assemble these weight loss medicines because initially there was a shortage. But we covered this. Regulators some time ago declared the shortage over. How have these compounders kept at it?

[Marta Voshinska]

Compounding laws have a lot of loopholes. So if pharmacies were to customize the product, which is really how compounding is supposed to be done, they can continue compounding even though the drug is not in shortage. The issue is that the law doesn't sort of draw a line between the scale for compounding versus when it becomes commercial manufacturing.

[David Brancaccio]

Now, I mean the reason we're talking right, is the FDA is saying it's going to try to curb some of this further. It will use, quote, all available compliance and enforcement tools. What kind of tools do drug regulators have in the US they have incredible

[Marta Voshinska]

power of what products they allow through the border. They don't have to see that There is an actual problem with the product. They just need to suspect that there is a problem with the product. My take on this is that the landscape dramatically changed. You now have Novo and Eli Lilly participating with the Trump administration in these most favored nation agreements. Biden, they are on Trump Rx, they have now really leaned in, dropped their prices quite a bit. Now FDA has a lot more of an ability to now use those tools and protect those deals that they have basically made with these two manufacturers.

[David Brancaccio]

Can Lilly or Novo, the big pharmas, can they meet demand?

[Marta Voshinska]

The fact that they're now shifting towards selling pills really makes a difference in terms of the ability to produce a lot of product quickly. Injectable products really have major bottlenecks in production.

[David Brancaccio]

But you've worried about standards or lack thereof in this whole area. What are some of your concerns?

[Marta Voshinska]

My concern was that the compounding pharmacies have been importing product. That's basically where the company sets their own standards. They can decide what kinds of impurities they're going to test. They decide what is an appropriate level of impurities. They decide what is considered a PUR product. That makes me very nervous that we don't have a set standard for these products and it's being used by millions of patients.

[David Brancaccio]

Marta Voshinska is a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution's center on Health Policy. Thank you so much.

[Marta Voshinska]

Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

[David Brancaccio]

Also, just this week, Novo Nordisk announced it's cutting the list price for Ozempic, Wegovy and the oral diabetes drug Rybelsis by as much as half. But starting the first of next year, the company's stock is down 40% in a month. Eli Lilly stock is down just 3% during the same period. The Treasury Department says it will ease restrictions on Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba for commercial and humanitarian use, dialing down limits that are part of Cuba's worsening energy shortage. Electricity in Cuba comes from generators running on imported fuel. Foreign.

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[David Brancaccio]

payroll this Marketplace podcast is supported by Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, destination focused dining and cultural enrichment on board and on shore. And every Viking voyage is all inclusive with no children and no casinos. Discover [e-mail] in just over a week, a new round of action in the Italian Alps. The Milan Cortina Paralympic Games kick off March 6. Dozens of athletes will represent the US in sled hockey, skiing, wheelchair curling and snowboarding. Among the business angles here is the fact that getting to the Paralympics and the Olympics is expensive. It costs competitors on average $12,000 a year. And as Marketplace's Kimberly Adams reports, for winter athletes in particular, costs can be even higher.

[Kimberly Adams]

In addition to travel and equipment fees for time on the ice or the slopes. You have a private coach, you have

[Marta Voshinska]

a nutritionist, you have a strength and training conditioner. You have mental health professionals that assist.

[Kimberly Adams]

Lisa Noirotti teaches sports management at George Washington University and says with the extra pricey equipment for some winter activities, that

[Marta Voshinska]

takes up to 100,000 a year for some of these sports.

[Kimberly Adams]

Naradi says parents often eat most of the costs for younger athletes during the years of training it takes to get to the level of joining Team usa. As for the adult athletes, all that training makes it hard to hold down steady work.

[Declan Farmer]

Realistically, you can't just take time off from a standard job multiple times a month and then, you know, best case scenario, you literally have no other time off. You're only spending all your time off to go train and compete.

[Kimberly Adams]

Declan Farmer is a Paralympic gold medalist and plays sled hockey for Team usa.

[Declan Farmer]

You know, we've had some great sled hockey players retire in their mid-20s over the years because they just simply, you know, can't make it work financially.

[Kimberly Adams]

Team USA has a fan supported nonprofit that does help fund athletes and a recent hundred million dollar donation is giving Paralympians and Olympians some retirement resources. But for most athletes striving along the way, it's the love of the sport that keeps them going, even if it costs them. I'm Kimberly Adams from Marketplace and the

[David Brancaccio]

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