Erin Gee is the host of the Alt-Text podcast and a former full-time member of the Canadian national softball team.

After Alysha Newman won an Olympic bronze medal in the pole vault last week, an interviewer asked what motivated her to keep going during her sometimes turbulent career.

Of course, “there’s nothing better than sports,” said Ms. Newman, the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in her field. “We’re sticking to our guns because of that feeling tonight.”

But Ms. Newman also said: “I make good money (when I’m) not at the racetrack, and I take great pride in my entrepreneurial skills.”

Ms. Newman is a well-known OnlyFans influencer and she is not the only athlete of her kind.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Making money on OnlyFans is hard, and Ms. Newman has every reason to be proud of her entrepreneurial skills. But the fact that she and so many other athletes have side jobs puts us as a country to shame.

Athletes are putting a country’s name out there abroad and supporting their countrymen at home. In doing so, they are providing a service to their country. There is value in that. It may be difficult to quantify, but if you watch an Olympic stream, enjoy it, and then talk about it with friends, you are undoubtedly reaping some of that value.

But as a country we don’t want to pay for that. Domestically, we don’t give the athletes the support they need, even though we expect them to bring home gold at the World Championships.

I remember receiving my first check for my softball career. I just couldn’t believe it. I was making money doing what I loved, being a full-time member of the women’s national team, and pursuing my dream of representing Canada in the Olympics. But reality quickly caught up with me.

As an Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) recipient with a senior-level card, I received $3,000 every two months for several years with Softball Canada to cover the living and training expenses of a national-level female athlete. At the time, the softball program’s coaches lived and worked in the United States (i.e., they coached at NCAA Division I universities), which meant that for any offseason training – aside from annual winter training camps – with the coaching staff, the athletes had to cover those costs themselves. This meant taking time off from work or school to spend thousands of dollars traveling to Las Vegas and Lincoln, Nebraska.

During this time, I was fortunate to be in my senior year of college and living with my parents, but since I was already past my four-year college eligibility, I had to do much of my training on my own while the costs of trainers, gym memberships, exercise equipment, and various medical professionals skyrocketed. I worked part-time but had to juggle my priorities: school and training. Holding down a job—even a part-time job—was challenging because I needed long periods of time off, especially in the summer. The $1,500 was quickly spent traveling to train and paying for services I had previously received for free.

It was one of the best times of my life, but also hard. Looking back, I realize that I should have been better supported to improve my skills and achieve my dreams.

Sport in Canada is funded in two ways. The first is AAP, a government-funded program designed to “alleviate some of the financial pressures associated with preparing for and participating in international sport and to assist Canadian high-performance athletes in combining their sport and academic or professional careers while training intensively to achieve world-class performances.” The card system requires athletes to meet certain eligibility criteria to receive a monthly stipend. AAP card athletes are also eligible for tuition assistance.

The second way Canadian athletes receive financial support is through Own The Podium (OTP), an organization founded in 2006. OTP is a non-profit organization that evaluates the performance potential of high-performance sports and uses a set of criteria to identify the sports that have the highest chance of making the podium at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This process determines how the funds are distributed to Canadian sports federations, with the organizations with the highest probability of making the podium receiving the most support.

The result? The funding for each sport varies widely. For example, swimming received more than $4.5 million this Olympic cycle (with eight medals), and judo and fencing each received more than $200,000 with one medal each. (Track and field, which includes Ms. Newman’s pole vault, received $4.7 million, which is on the high end, but note the sheer number of sports and athletes that term encompasses — 48 events in total this year.)

Yet every Olympic cycle, the public is shocked to learn that many Olympians — both domestic and foreign — are unable to be full-time athletes. Many have careers, while others live precarious lifestyles with multiple part-time jobs. U.S. water polo player Kaleigh Gilchrist told USA Today, “The reality is that that’s only the top 5% (who make money from endorsement deals); the rest of us live paycheck to paycheck.”

When I had an AAP senior card, I received $1,500 a month. That amount is now over $1,750, but wouldn’t even cover rent in most Canadian cities. Gym memberships, personal trainers, physical therapists, room rentals, travel to meet with trainers – all of these things cost money. Not to mention the enormous amount of food a high-performance athlete must consume to fuel their body.

Winning a medal (or several — hello, Summer McIntosh!) doesn’t mean you’re suddenly a household name and no longer have to live paycheck to paycheck. Forbes reported that 33 countries will award medalists a cash bonus, with only 15 paying out more than $100,000. American gold medalists will take home a $37,500 bonus, while Canadians will receive $20,000. AAP will provide medal-winning athletes with ID additional funds based on a sliding scale based on their annual income. Those earning more than $65,000 will not be eligible for funds, while those earning less than $60,000 can receive $6,000.

Undoubtedly, these bonuses will help the athletes who receive them, but they are not enough to allow them to stop working and focus on their sport. Instead, they help perpetuate existing systemic problems. Corporate sponsorship can do a lot to alleviate athletes’ financial stress, but so few companies invest in Canadian athletes and Canadian culture.

As the Olympics come to a close this weekend, we can look forward to what Milan 2026 will bring for Canadian athletes. But we can also hope that they will receive more financial support from all possible places, including corporate partners. Canadian pride will not pay the bills.