????美國政府不為奧運健兒提供資助，這一做法迥異于絕大多數其他國家。美國賽艇協會（the U.S. Rowing Association）首席執行官格倫?默里指出，美國各種運動隊的資金來源各不相同，大概只有30-35%資金來自美國奧委會（the U.S Olympic Committee）的撥款——而美國奧委會的資金又是來自國際奧委會（the International Olympic Committee）。“美國奧委會擁有大量資金，但需要分給各種運動的管理機構，”默里說。“今年我們從將從他們那里得到120萬美元，有一陣子則低至只有75萬美元。”另一項資金來源是私人捐贈，少的捐10美元，多的達到10萬美元，總計也有100萬美元。第三項則是用高爾夫球賽（每位參加者需交5,000美元）等活動募集資金。每家管理機構各顯神通，有的從企業那里獲得的贊助較多，超過私人支持者的捐贈。

????美國奧委會資助各類運動的模式并非一成不變，過去有所謂的基礎資金——即每種運動至少都可以獲得一定額度的撥款。不過，美國奧委會體育成績負責人艾倫?阿什利表示，奧委會逐漸改變了模式，對各種運動的管理機構實行更符合其特點的政策。“我們與各種國家級運動管理機構的關系相當個性化，因此我們與柔道、賽艇和田徑協會的關系各不相同，都是根據其需要量體裁衣，盡可能為其訓練營、教練及參與適當競爭的策略等提供支持。”他還指出，決定撥款多少的因素是：此種運動已獲得多少獎牌，以及今后贏得獎牌的可能性大不大。此外，各管理機構的能力、以及他們在美國奧委會不幫忙的情況下自行籌集資金的能力都會影響到撥款金額。“有些運動有很多會員，能舉辦大型活動，還經常上電視，另一些運動則相對冷門，很難籌集到資金，”阿什利說。運動管理機構的資金中，美國奧委會撥款所占比例介于5-95%之間。

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????The U.S government is one of only a few countries that do not give money to Olympians. Glenn Merry, the CEO of the U.S. Rowing Association said that every team within the United States is funded differently, with only 30% to 35% of their funding coming from the U.S Olympic Committee, which receives money from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "The U.S Olympic Committee has a pot of money that is divided between the governing bodies," said Merry. "This year we will get $1,200,000 from them, but at one point it was as low as $750,000." Another source of funding comes from private donors giving anywhere from $10 to $100,000 adding up to $1 million. Their third component comes from golf outings, a 5K run, and other fundraising events. Every governing body differs, and some might earn more money from corporate sponsors compared to private donors.

????The U.S Olympic Committee hasn't always had the same model for funding each sport. They used to have a base of funding -- every sport was guaranteed a certain amount of money. Alan Ashley, the chief of sport performance at The U.S. Olympic Committee says that, over time, the Games have moved toward a more customized approach for the governing bodies of each sport. "Our relationship with each national governing body is very customized. So our relationships with judo, rowing or track and field are all quite different. They're tailored around trying to do as much as we possibly can to support their strategy in terms of training camps, coaching, getting into the right competitions," he says. This is determined, he says, by looking at how many medals the sport has won, and if it has a good chance of winning in the future. It also varies depending on the capability of each governing body and how much money they can raise without the help of the USOC. "There are sports that have large memberships, do big events, have a lot of television presence, and then there are other ones that are relatively obscure and it's very difficult for them to raise funds," Ashley says. Governing bodies receive anywhere from 5% to 95% of their total funding from the committee.