The moment his chosen sport became his job, Rohan Chapman-Davies CA realised it would come with some sacrifices. But it would also offer numerous opportunities.

“Once I finished high school, I saw that I had a really great opportunity ahead of me,” says Chapman-Davies, a 2018 Winter Olympic mogul skier who is now part of the corporate business services team at Ellice-Flint Group. “I wanted to give myself entirely to seeing what I can do in this athletic pursuit. In that moment, it became a full-time job.”

The difference from most full-time jobs is that, as for many athletes, there would be no salary.

“You’re dedicating yourself seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year, to something where there is no income,” Chapman-Davies says.

The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) Running on Empty report from 2023 found almost half (46%) of elite Australian athletes over the age of 18 earned less than A$23,000 per year. This meant they were living well below the poverty line of A$584/week for a single adult, while training to represent their nation, often on the world’s biggest stage.

The report, based on responses from more than 2300 athletes across 60 sports, also links the resulting financial strain to mental-health issues and to questions about whether it’s worth staying in the sport at all.

“It’s a good question,” Chapman-Davies says. “It’s a challenge a lot of modern athletes have to face. And I was certainly not immune to that as an Australian winter sports athlete.”

A snow-skier in a sunburnt country

Chapman-Davies says he was lucky. Throughout his years spent travelling to events around the globe, he received a scholarship with the NSW Institute of Sport which provided coaching, gym access and support services such as sports psychologists and physiotherapists. That removed some of the stress. But there was still no income.

“A lot of those early costs – jumping on a plane and going to North America or following the competition tour through Europe – the majority of that was funded out of pocket by myself and my very, very supportive, generous parents,” he says.

He saw communities rally around other athletes and organise local fundraisers.

Over time, Chapman-Davies found ways to reduce the financial pressure, including gear sponsors to provide skis, boots, helmets, goggles and other equipment, as well as sponsors willing to become part of the commercialisation of his personal brand.

“You’re competing in a world that a lot of people would love a little more access to,” he says. “If you can bring people on that journey in a way that works with all of the other pressures, it’s valuable.”

Personal sponsorships included videos from behind the scenes, regular calls and reports, as well as coffee and lunch catch-ups.

At a higher level, there is now another option. In 2025, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), in partnership with the ASF, launched the Aspiring Australian Olympian Funding program, allowing any Australian to make tax-deductible donations directly to a fund set aside for Olympic hopefuls.

“While Australians love, watch and follow the Summer and Winter Olympics closely, many will probably be surprised at the enormous costs associated with competing at the elite level and how little our elite Australian athletes often survive on,” said AOC CEO Mark Arbib when announcing the program.

“By donating, we want Australians to know they’re potentially making someone else’s Olympic dream a reality.”

In 2025 the AOC also announced a A$50 million investment in Australia’s Summer and Winter Olympians, in the form of the Olympian Futures Fund “which empowers Olympians to shape their lives beyond sport and incentivises them to compete in multiple Olympics”.

The fund offers a retirement grant of A$32,000 per games to Olympians, to help make up for delayed education or employment; A$10,000 to female Olympians returning to sport after giving birth; and a A$5000 team selection payment for attending the Olympic Games.

Across the Tasman, High Performance Sport New Zealand announced in 2024 that from 2025, eligible athletes from individual sports confirmed as part of the next Winter and Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will receive elite training grants of NZ$50,000 per year.

Still, government funding in New Zealand has been reported to be highly targeted, with sports outside of gold medal contention receiving less funding than those with podium potential.

For athletes in less prominent codes either side of the Tasman, the pattern is familiar. Athletes must seek their own mix of training support, part-time work, scholarships, gear sponsorships, community fundraising and, where possible, personal sponsorships.

Is there a long-term payoff?

Chapman-Davies says that in pure dollar terms, sport did not pay for itself. During the years he was competing, he experienced a net financial loss compared with what he likely would have been earning after graduating from a commerce and liberal studies double degree.

But that doesn’t mean there was no return on investment.

“You learn things about yourself that are incredibly useful later on in life,” says Chapman-Davies, who is now based in Washington D.C. with his journalist wife Lauren Tomasi. “Whether it’s in a professional or a personal setting, it also opens so many doors.”