Road to the Olympics: Workouts, fundraising – and starting your own business

U.S. Olympian Leanne Wong excels on the uneven bars – and in business.

The gymnast, an alternate on the team competing in Paris this month, aims for gold in more than just medals. Her online Bowtique shop, which grew out of a hobby, has sold thousands of colorful, sparkly hair accessories since 2021.

Side gigs are common among Olympic athletes and hopefuls, many of whom, not surprisingly, are go-getters. Sometimes they require additional funds, beyond sponsors, to support themselves and their families while they compete. Sometimes they are preparing for life after the medal race. In recent years, technology has given their notoriety and longevity a boost, and offered an avenue for financial opportunities. 

“I think athletes make the best entrepreneurs,” says former rowing Olympian Meghan O’Leary, who competed in the 2016 and 2020 Games. “We know what it’s like to have highs, lows and stay here,” she says, gesturing to the middle, during a recent media event in New York. 

Ms. O’Leary co-founded the recruiting software startup Turazo while still actively competing. Now she is the director of commercial development and innovation for United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, a group that markets the games, including those in Los Angeles in 2028. She says that athletes’ strengths include collaborating, working in teams, and allowing themselves to be coached.

Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby – who won a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, but just missed qualifying for the Paris Games – has a swimwear collection with Arena. As a college athlete, Ms. Jacoby’s partnership was made possible by changes in recent years in NCAA “name, image, likeness” rules. The Fit for France collection includes various cuts and colors of bathing suits, modeled in photos by Ms. Jacoby, as well as goggles and backpacks. 

“It’s always been a dream to work in fashion, so getting to work with Arena and design a swimsuit, it’s been so fun. I feel like it’s been a gateway for learning about that process,” Ms. Jacoby said in an interview with the Monitor in the spring. It is an added bonus to pair the fashion business with her sport, she says.

Medal winners, especially those who take home gold, are sometimes able to get publicity (think Wheaties boxes) and endorsement deals to help propel post-Olympic pursuits. But some athletes have succeeded outside of huge sponsorship deals. A trio of onetime Olympic hopefuls – Lauren Fleshman, former professional track and field star, her then-husband Jesse Thomas, two-time Ironman champion, and Stephanie Bruce, a half-marathon champ – figured out business on their own. In 2010 they started Picky Bars, a gluten- and dairy-free energy bar company, which they sold for $12 million in 2021.

Ms. O’Leary is a proponent of a new partnership the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has developed with Guild, an education benefits platform that will provide access to continuing college education, career coaching, and development opportunities. Any Olympian from the past 10 years who meets the requirements can take classes and earn degrees via online university Purdue Global, and can pursue professional education paths from eCornell.

There needs to be more support for athletes academically, to help educate them on entrepreneurial pathways, says Victoria Jackson, sports historian and professor at Arizona State University. With guidance, she adds, they can take the lead on starting businesses, or keep an eye on staying connected in their given sport after retirement with ideas on how to grow it and continually contribute. All sports should be considered as sophisticated industries, she says.

“One problem with it not being taken seriously in educational environments is that everybody has to reinvent the wheel every time they want to embrace that entrepreneurial spirit,” Dr. Jackson offers. So far, she adds, athletes have had to figure out a lot on their own.

Ms. Wong purchased the home that she and her family ship her merchandise, including leotards, from – and more investing may be in her future. Her mother has said the college senior is thinking of purchasing a second home near the University of Florida, where she attends school, to use as rental property.

Real estate is also on the mind of breakdancer Victor Montalvo, a member of the U.S. Olympic team. For more than a decade, before breaking was embraced as an event for the first time at this year’s Paris Games, he’s competed around the world. Now, he is looking toward the future. 

“I want to steer away from breaking for a bit. I’ve been doing it competitively for 12, 13 years,” Mr. Montalvo, who is 30, says at the New York media event.

He says he wants to get into real estate. “I bought a home for my parents, so that’s a start. I’m trying to buy another home and make it into a duplex.”

He also plans to take advantage of an Olympic program to help athletes earn degrees.

“I just honestly know that I’m not going to be able to dance for the next 20 years,” he says. “And I don’t want to be 40 years old, competing, trying to win an event just to make rent, or to make ends meet.”