????私人捐贈和運動隊的會員費收入也是重要的資金來源。默里2002年擔任美國賽艇協(xié)會首席執(zhí)行官時，美國賽艇隊每年僅能從國家賽艇基金會捐贈者（National Rowing Foundation Donors）那里獲得3萬美元，2012年此項收入預計將超過100萬美元。有些運動的會員基數大得多，比如冰球協(xié)會擁有逾30萬會員。如果某人參加當地冰場的冰球隊，那他們繳納的會員費中，有一部分很可能會直接流向冰球管理機構。

????那些資金不足的運動員被迫采取一些別出心裁的籌資手段，甚至滲透到他們的日常生活中。美國女子賽艇隊的成員每個月大概只能從美國奧委會那里獲得400美元津貼，她們與寄宿家庭住在一起，備戰(zhàn)奧運之際還要打一兩份工，有時候訓練十個小時之后尚需撲向辦公桌。相比之下，英國賽艇隊是該國資金最充裕的運動隊，為了備戰(zhàn)今年夏季的奧運會，該隊獲得了近4,400萬美元資金，五倍于其美國同行。除了生活費用之外，美國賽艇隊通過一套梯次體系決定運動員參加哪些賽事的經費可以報銷——除奧運會之外，并非所有運動員參加任何賽事都可以報銷費用。如果某運動員在上屆奧運會上獲得了銀牌，那他或她每個月可能會得到800美元補助，相比之下，要是沒有贏得任何獎牌，補助可能就只有400美元。“這談不上刺激運動員獲得更好成績，更大程度上是對他們的努力的認可，使那些頂尖的運動員生活更容易些。”

????25歲的耶魯大學（Yale）畢業(yè)生查理?科爾現(xiàn)在正努力訓練，爭取獲得資格，進入美國賽艇隊。當他在普林斯頓大學（Princeton）訓練時，他與其他幾位賽艇運動員啟動了一個課后輔導項目，以便額外掙點收入。“對我們來說這一經歷很有好處，但到頭來，我還是得集中精力于賽艇，”科爾說。“我知道我不可能真正把賽艇當成事業(yè)，但沒走到那一步之前，賽艇就是我的頭等大事。”

????在英國，運動隊的資金不僅來自于政府撥款，還有彩票銷售收入襄助。給予運動員經濟上的支持，使他們有機會全神貫注于比賽，而不用忙于打工。在倫敦奧運會前的四年中，英國各運動隊總計獲得了約4.26億美元資金，是美國奧委會分配給所有奧運項目管理機構經費的兩倍還多。

????譯者:小宇

????Private donations and teams' membership revenues are also a crucial part of funding. When Merry took over as CEO in 2002, U.S. Rowing went from receiving $30,000 from National Rowing Foundation Donors, to over $1 million in 2012. Some sports have a much greater membership base, such as hockey, with over 300,000 members. If one were to join a hockey team at their local ice rink, a portion of that their membership fee would most likely go directly to the hockey governing body.

????The creative fundraising among poorly funded athletes extends to their lifestyle. The women on the U.S. Rowing team, who receive only about a $400-a-month stipend from the USOC, live with host families and take one, sometimes two, jobs while training for the games, sometimes heading to a desk after 10-hours of training. The British rowing team, in comparison, is the nation's highest funded -- nearly $44 million went to the team to prepare for this summer's games, five times the amount of the U.S. team. In addition to living expenses, U.S. Rowing has a tiered system of what events they can financially cover for each athlete. Excluding the Olympics, not all athletes are monetarily covered to attend every event. If one athlete won silver medal in the previous Olympic Games, he or she might get $800 a month in support, compared with someone who might get $400 if they didn't win a medal. "It's not so much an incentive to do better. It's more to recognize their effort and make it a little bit easier for the people on top," Merry says.

????Charlie Cole, a 25-year-old Yale graduate, is currently in the midst of trying to qualify for the U.S. Rowing team. While he was training in Princeton, he started an afterschool tutoring program with a few other rowers to make extra income. "It was a real learning experience for us, but at the end of the day, I need to focus on rowing," Cole says. "I know I can't make a career out of it in a true sense, but until I come to that point, rowing is my number one priority."

????In the U.K., funding not only comes from the government, but from the lottery as well. Athletes' financial support gives them the opportunity to focus on their game without having to take on a second job. For the four-year funding period for the London games, U.K. sport allocated roughly a total $426 million dollars, more than double what the U.S. Olympic Committee has to give all governing bodies of every Olympic sport.