CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — When Frank Del Duca decided to commit to bobsled, the former Division-I track walk-on sold his dream car, an Audi TT, and his beloved mountain bike to fund his Olympic dream, moves that befuddled his family.
A decade later, the amount he needed to start his new sport, around $10,000-15,000, seems quaint.
Much has been made in the last six years about rising costs across the world with everyday items. Athletes are feeling those increased prices too — with milk, eggs and shipping expenses.
You think stamps have gotten more expensive? Imagine how much it costs to send a bobsled around the world.
The final Olympic events for bobsled, the 2-woman and 4-man races, begin Friday, and once again, the Germans are heavily favored to medal. Germany’s three sleds swept the 2-man event earlier this week, and the 4-man team, piloted by Johannes Lochner, is ranked No. 1 in the world according to the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF). His teammates’ 4-man sleds are ranked No. 2 and No. 3.
On the women’s side, Germany’s 2-woman sled led by Laura Nolte is also ranked No. 1. Kaillie Humphries, who has won three previous medals in 2-woman, including two golds, is ranked No. 2. Elana Meyers Taylor, who won her first gold in monobob on Monday, is ranked No. 6 and should also contend for a 2-woman medal.
The American men, meanwhile, have their work cut out for them, as both of their 4-man sleds are ranked outside the Top 10; Kris Horn is No. 11, and Del Duca No. 23. Team USA’s bobsled men are bullish in their mission to get the men a bobsled medal for the first time since 2014, knowing that a podium finish could go a long way in helping the sport gain traction before a home Olympics (Salt Lake City) in eight years.
But in a sport rapidly growing in cost, that might get increasingly hard for any and all of the North American-based teams — including ones like Jamaica and Brazil, which train at Lake Placid along with Team USA.
“One of my frustrations is that we’re seeing less and less World Cup competitions in (North) America,” USA Bobsled and Skeleton CEO Aron McGuire told The Athletic. “It’s really becoming a European-focused sport and as a result of that, costs are going up a lot.”
Frank Del Duca’s four-man team starts a training run this week at the Olympics. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to ship bobsleds and other equipment to Europe during the season. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
Asked how much more expensive the sport has become over the last five years, Canadian pilot Taylor Austin, competing in his second Olympics, snorted.
“Exponentially,” he said, estimating that for the 2023-24 season, he paid around $30,000 out of pocket “straight from my savings account. The next year, it was closer to $80,000.”
Those numbers match what the U.S. is experiencing, too.
In the previous quad, according to McGuire, the American team could ship its 12 sleds around Europe during the World Cup circuit for about $75,000. Now that number is closer to $125,000, a staggering 67 percent jump. It was even cheaper, said USABS coach Chris Fogt, before the COVID-19 pandemic — maybe $3,000-$5,000 per sled.
And that’s for a pretty bare bones operation. While well-funded teams like the Germans tend to fly their sleds from competition to competition, USABS can’t afford that.
“Those large shipping containers, we ship a dozen of those overseas,” McGuire said. “It’s not just our sleds, it’s sleds, all our equipment, weight racks and lifting bars because sometimes we’ve got to set up a portable gym. And it’s not like we’re traveling with a pit crew — our athletes are the pit crew. They fly in first, pick up rental vans, go down to shipping and receiving, unload those 12 containers, pack the sleds in the vans and drive to our next location. And they’re doing that every time. It takes a physical toll.”
They’re also paying for flights and hotels. Meanwhile, the European-based teams can drive to most competitions and often sleep in their own beds. McGuire estimates that the German bobsled staff is roughly five times the size of the U.S. staff — and that they’re outspending the Americans at that clip too, if not more.
“This is truly a blue-collar sport, and we take pride in that,” McGuire said. “You’ve gotta have grit and resilience, you’ve gotta be tough to survive this sport, to move a sled around in the mud.
“But yes, if our athletes were millionaires, we’d have way more gold medals.”
Of the 16 sports being contested at the Milan Cortina Games this month, bobsled is far and away the most expensive, at least when it comes to equipment and travel. That’s how it works when you have to ship 460-pound sleds thousands of miles.
And that’s after buying the sled itself. A basic, 4-man model will run you $125,000 to $150,000. Shipping it to the U.S., then tinkering with it to make it as fast as possible, adds up quickly. Runners cost an additional $10,000. And major sponsorship deals for niche sports are few and far between.
Even high-profile teams struggled to find enough cash to compete at the highest levels. For the Jamaicans, whose “Cool Runnings” fame reverberates 33 years after the Disney movie that made them famous, buying a sled is a non-starter.
“We don’t have enough money to get our own sleds,” said pilot Shane Pitter, who made his Olympic debut in Cortina. “The USA and Korea partnered with us and (loaned) us their sleds.”
Kaillie Humphries pilots the top U.S. hope in the 2-woman competition. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
Because sleds are linked to pilots’ names directly, while push athletes come and go, driving is considerably more expensive.
“If you’re a push athlete just on the North American circuit, your driver can cover some expenses so you’re probably looking at $10,000 to $15,000 yourself — and that’s bare bones,” Del Duca said. “That’s, you’re sharing housing, food and sled shipping costs. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re an unfunded driver going on the World Cup circuit, you’re easily looking at a six-figure price tag.”
Fogt, who competed in three Games himself, said bobsled athletes used to be able to work part-time while training and still make ends meet.
“That’s impossible now,” he said. “The costs have become insane.”
There are a few comparable summer sports when it comes to cost, including equestrian, which often involves the purchase and movement of million-dollar horses, and sailing.
But at the Winter Games, every other sport — snowboard, skiing, figure skating, etc. — can pack their equipment in a carry-on or a checked bag. Even luge and skeleton athletes can check their much smaller sleds onto an airplane.
In the coming years, McGuire said, the hope is for Team USA to leave some “developmental sleds” in Europe, which should help trim costs. But first, they’ve got to be able to afford that many sleds.
“We have a never-ending shopping list,” he said, “and our wish list always exceeds our bank account.”
It gets worse when teams aren’t funded by their national governments, which has long been the case in the United States. Athletes stress about what it could mean for the future of bobsled.
“I am 100 percent worried about this pushing people out of the sport,” said Team USA push athlete Josh Williamson. “The rising costs are going to hold back growth of the sport.
“This sport has been a staple of the Olympics for so long, and it’s something people like to tune into even if it’s only once every four years. It’s a really cool part of the Games. But we have to address the shipping costs because for nations outside of Europe, it’s a big deal.”
Canada’s Austin echoed those thoughts, though with a little more of a grim outlook.
“Hopefully,” he said, “we can find a way to keep the sport around.”