Quote:
Originally Posted by dennis in se pa
"Many of them still make many millions in endorsements" - Then they are not amateurs.
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None of them are. Not one. Do you think any of them have day jobs and just do the sports thing nights and weekends? Michael Phelps was making millions a year
before the 2008 games. Should he not be able to swim in the 2012 games because of his endorsements after he got super famous following the Beijing games? How else is he gonna pay the $175k in taxes on his 20 gold medals? There are no part-timers in the Olympics and they have to have plenty of income to support their training and lack of day jobs.
If you want only real amateurs to be allowed to compete, you'd have to scout from high school teams, maybe college. Though I'd consider a $100k worth of athletic scholarships to be plenty of income/sponsorship.