February 3, 2026
At her peak the Olympian earned as a lot as $200,000 a 12 months in sponsorship offers.
Former U.S. Olympian Lauryn Williams as soon as earned a six-figure sponsorship, and just a few years after she earned $12-an-hour as an intern.
Williams received an Olympic gold medal representing the United States within the 4x100m relay in London 2012. Additionally, she was the runner-up within the ladies’s bobsleigh on the Sochi video games in 2014. At her peak, the Olympian earned as a lot as $200,000 a 12 months in sponsorship offers. That earnings declined drastically when she stepped away from decades-long full-time athletics.
Williams spoke to CNBC Make It concerning the monetary actuality of being an Olympic athlete in a sport that isn’t mainstream. She stated, that though she’d made history, sponsors didn’t present curiosity in supporting her journey.
“The information protection got here, however the sponsors didn’t. I made $80,000 the 12 months I turned the primary American girl to medal within the Summer and Winter Olympics,” Williams stated.
Her earnings were above the poverty line, but didn’t even contact the bottom degree of middle-class salaries.
“The cash doesn’t go fairly so far as folks suppose it does, although it was a reasonably good residing for a 20-year-old.”
Without constant endorsement income or assured post-Olympic employment, she realized it was time to pivot.
Williams started looking for alternatives to carry her into the next chapter of life. She ultimately discovered an entry-level internship in finance. The transition was tough as the lady with a coronary heart and resume of a champion was out of her depth.
“I used to be behind the ball as a result of I used to be 30 years outdated and simply beginning, whereas I had pals who had been already docs and attorneys and effectively into their careers,” she added. “I spent all of my 20s competing, so I felt sort of insecure that I didn’t have any actual work information.”
Though Williams thought of herself behind in her profession prospects, she succeeded in her pivot to the monetary sector. Williams is now the proprietor of Worth Winning, a monetary planning agency dedicated to helping others arrange their monetary futures. Worth Winning seeks to provide younger professionals, very like 20-year-old Williams, “readability” and steering as they navigate unknown monetary waters.
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