I believe one has to now be 15 years old to compete on the senior figure skating circuit…so NO a 12 year old is NOT going to win an Olympic gold.
Tara Lipinski was the youngest ever to do so IIRC…I believe just shy of her 15th birthday. That record won’t change…because the youngest now have to be 15.
Not gonna happen. @thumper1 is correct.
We all stayed up late for the gold-winning curling match. It was amazing. What a turnaround for our team, and it’s nice to see a sport people can continue to compete in for years. I also appreciate how cordial the players are with one another.
Yes, @stardustmom, but isn’t it a little depressing to realize that you’re old enough to understand what all those “Miracurl on Ice” headlines refer back to?
(Unless of course you’re NOT old enough. 
)
Not depressed at all. I am happy that youthful struggles are behind me.
Yes, those are the rules about the age of competitors now. 
Let’s see what happens in 12 years. Seriously, what do you think will happen the first time a younger female skater lands a quadruple in junior competition, and none of the senior skaters can?
My dad was just saying that when he went to the Olympics (the actual year of the original Miracle on Ice, and they were THERE at the game!) – he said that what struck him at the time was how young most of the athletes walking around town were. All college student or late HS age, it seemed like.
That was back when the Olympic athletes were all amateurs, was it not? The rule was changed in 1986, I believe, in terms of who could compete and I think that is one thing that drives the average age of athletes up.
When I think about the hours, level, and locations where Jessie Diggins trains, no way could she hold down a job and do it. The most elite of the Olympians can get sponsorships, and they get some funding from their sports federations. But for years Jessie relied on local fundraisers and a few local sponsors (like the company her dad works for has been a big sponsor). And a few can get paid to play their sports professionally (although the NHL didn’t let their players come play this year in the Olympics) – but there is a figure skating circuit where skaters can make money. But I think the average US Olympian still has a day job:
My H and I think that Jessie Diggins is the rare person in a obscure sport who could make money in mainstream endorsements. She truly has a personality that could appeal to advertisers. And I feel she could be a breakout star.
For some of these young olympians…their day job…is finishing high school…
Yes, Jessie no longer needs to run community fundraisers. You can tell from the Olympic commercials that she has got sponsors now. And she gets funding from some kind of US skiing federation. I think most of the skiers get some small sponsorship from ski equipment manufacturers like Salomon. But the number who will get endorsements is few. And Jessie can probably comfortably finish her World Cup & Olympic years with sponsors and federation funding – but that is the rare exception. Adam Rippon was literally starving (due to finances, not by choice) in recent years to keep skating.
So if you know a young athlete with Olympic aspirations, help them out if you can.
Is there no government funding for athletes in the U.S.? Or sport federation funding?
Privately funded through individual donors and corps. As it should be, IMO.
Maybe IOC could fund some.
You don’t even need to go to the IOC. Just look at salaries in the USOC.
There are some performance based stipends from the US Olympic Committee:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/2018-us-olympians-open-up-about-money-struggles.html
I think there is some spot funding from the national federations for certain sports, just for those sports, too. But only the top and most promising athletes get any of it.
Carded athletes in Canada get annual funding of approximately $1800/month and development athletes get approximately $1100. Same with paralympians. There is also funding for childcare and annual contributions for university tuition up to $5500/yr. The government also funds the Own the Podium foundation which supplies top up funding to athletes for coaching and training.
The skating gala is always such fun!
anyone watch the show earlier today on the 1988 calgary olympics skating (B Boitano v B Orser; D Thomas v K Witt) with their current comments on their skating 30 years ago? Really interesting!