04.12 US Olympic Hopefuls’ Dreams Prove Costly Ahead of Sochi

WASHINGTON, December 4 (by Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – If US Olympic bobsled hopeful Jamie Greubel makes it to the Winter Olympics, she may have Russian vodka to thank for it.

Like many of her fellow US athletes, Greubel relies on private sponsorship to help stave off financial ruin as she strives to make the national team at the Games in the southern Russian resort town of Sochi in February.

And among this year’s sponsors of the US bobsled team is the Putinka vodka brand, whose logo made an inaugural run on a sled piloted by Greubel in Calgary, Canada, over the weekend.

“We’re excited to have great sponsors for this season, because it’s really expensive to get to Russia two times,” Greubel told RIA Novosti, referring to the team’s training trip to Sochi last month and the upcoming Winter Games.

Unlike most countries, the United States does not provide federal subsidies for its Olympic athletes, leaving them to rely on sponsors, grassroots donations, family support, an array of odd jobs and, more recently, online crowd-funding to finance their Olympic dreams.

Greubel, 30, said that even though her travel, expenses and health care are covered thanks to sponsorship money earmarked for members of the US team during an Olympic year, remaining financially solvent is a constant struggle.

“We’re kind of forced to work night jobs and waitressing jobs,” she said. “After you train hard all day, what would be ideal would be to recover and to stay off your feet. But there we are, training all day and then running off to work an eight-hour shift to make money and then getting up the next day and doing it all again.”