A lucky few athletes come to the Winter Games with a sheaf of lucrative sponsorship deals in their back pockets but others have to put their day jobs on hold as they chase Olympic glory.
Whether it's working as police officers, firefighters or making a mint as an entrepreneur, Olympians have many different ways of earning a crust.
E-waste Olympic Medals at 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
The winners at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics would be wearing medals that contain gold, silver and copper recovered from e-waste, reports indicate.
The winners at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics would be wearing medals that contain gold, silver and copper recovered from e-waste, reports indicate.
A clutch of firefighters at these Games include curler John Morris, recently named as one of the host nation's most eligible bachelors by Entertainment Tonight Canada, and compatriot Dominique Maltais, a competitor in snowboard cross.
Latvian bobsledders and firefighters Daumants Dreiskens and Janis Minins swapped fire for ice in a bid to record sizzling times on the sliding track, although Minins was forced to miss the two-man competition due to emergency surgery to remove his appendix.
?Human Mosaic? Formed In Madrid To Support The City?s 2016 Olympics
Hundreds of thousands of people formed a ‘human mosaic’ in Madrid to show their support for the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.
Hundreds of thousands of people formed a ‘human mosaic’ in Madrid to show their support for the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.
Bahrke, the women's moguls bronze medallist, founded the Silver Bean Coffee Company in Salt Lake City 2002.
Advertisement
Winter Olympics Knocks Off American Idol As Most Watched TV Programme
Half the global population is expected to tune into the Winter Olympics with coverage worldwide due to exceed 50,000 hours amid the explosion of digital media, organisers said Tuesday.
Half the global population is expected to tune into the Winter Olympics with coverage worldwide due to exceed 50,000 hours amid the explosion of digital media, organisers said Tuesday.
It even sells a range of "athlete blends" named after individual athletes on the US ski team promising that for every bag sold, one US dollar goes to the athlete and also the charity of their choice.
Advertisement
Cut Off Sex Trade Before London Olympics
City Hall chiefs have asked leading phone companies to assist in curbing prostitution and trafficking before the 2012 London Olympics.
City Hall chiefs have asked leading phone companies to assist in curbing prostitution and trafficking before the 2012 London Olympics.
But Begg-Smith, who took moguls gold in Turin in 2006, is cagey about the nature of his business.
The Australian newspaper said Begg-Smith "developed an Internet advertising business that is rumoured to have netted him millions of dollars before he wound it down in the lead-up to his first Olympics (2006).
"It involved pop-up ads and he was accused of manufacturing spyware....and was branded with the unflattering moniker 'Spam Man.'
"He says he is no longer involved, beyond managing investments he has made with his profits."
Elsewhere among the athletes, Austria's alpine skier Kathrin Zettel lists her occupation as a chef.
Bobsleigh pilot Astrid Loch-Wilkinson of Australia is a vet, skeleton athlete Kristan Bromley of Britain works as an engineer and rival skeleton competitor Jeff Pain earns his living as a landscape architect.
Ski cross competitors Markus Wittner of Austria and Karin Huttary could be in high demand after competition as massage therapists.
As a pharmacist, ice hockey player Natalie Babonyova of Slovakia is likely to be in high demand for sound advice when it comes to which cold and flu medications are permitted.
Source-AFP
SAV
