Sunday, August 08, 2004

Paying for Olympic Dreams

Interesting piece on athletes paying for their training and travels, with mention of Chaunte Howard:

A lot of Chaunte Howard's expenses are taken care of by Georgia Tech, which she is attending on an athletic scholarship. Universities generally provide top athletes with tuition, books, living expenses and a small stipend.

A university of Georgia Tech's caliber also has much of its equipment donated by corporate sponsors. The school passes that equipment along to its athletes.

Being part of a school's squad also gives the athlete plenty of competition against other universities. Traveling expenses to those meets are covered by the school.

It is a different story when Howard is representing herself in competition. Deborah Harris, her aunt who lives in Paso Robles, said Howard used to have to travel alone to competitions because none of her family members could afford to join her.