c'mon, name one skater that struggles financially. Someone is paying the bills, and other skaters have wealthy parents And how terrible is that?
Joe, I don't know where you got the idea that there are no skaters who struggle financially, but you are wrong. There are a number of skaters who do not come from wealthy families and who don't have anyone else paying the bills but themselves.
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov had to stop competing because they were in deep debt from supporting their skating and could not find sponsors. At one point, they said they were putting at least $20,000 per year on their credit cards just to keep up with coaching fees, costumes, and rink time. Overseas, Kevin Van Der Perren nearly quit skating a year and a half ago because he could not afford it anymore, but then won some prize money and has thus far been able to continue.
Only 3 or 4 competing US skaters get to do the "Stars on Ice" tour every year, and since that is the last US tour still operating that currently competing skaters can perform on, it has left a lot of our American elite skaters struggling for cash to pay the over $100,000 per season it typically costs for an elite coach, ice time, physical trainers, professional equipment and costuming. Depending upon which envelope they are in, they only receive between $9,000 and $15,000 per year from USFS, and in case you hadn't noticed, American companies are not exactly eager to offer sponsorship deals to skaters.
Yes, there are skaters like Evan Lysacek or Nancy Kerrigan who come from wealthy families, but there are also plenty of Johnny Weirs and Rudy Galindos who do not and have to pay their own costs. And you have no way of knowing how many very talented and promising young skaters had to quit the sport before making it to the elite level because of the expense.
