Winter Athletes Share How A 100 Million Dollar Donation Will Change Their Lives

When it was announced that Ross Stevens, a long-time Team USA supporter and Founder & CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, was gifting $100 million to support athletes, the news arrived quietly. The email that detailed the Stevens Financial Security Award landed in Olympic and Paralympic inboxes between training sessions, work shifts, and long days that blurred together.

For many U.S. Olympians and Paralympians, that’s how they got word of the historic gift — not as a headline, but as a moment that slowly, then all at once, changed the trajectory of their lives.

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced Stevens’ gift, the largest in its history, in March 2025. Starting with the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, and going at least through the 2032 Games, every U.S. Olympian and Paralympian will receive $200,000 in financial benefits for each Games in which they compete, regardless of the results.

No podium required. No performance clauses. Just real, tangible, post-Games security for athletes whose careers are often defined by instability and sacrifice.

Team USA athletes can’t succeed in their sport alone. Behind every athlete is a community of supporters whose generosity makes it possible for them to train, travel, and compete.

For two-time Olympic speedskater Kristen Santos-Griswold, who just competed at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the news arrived exactly where most things in her life do: at the rink.

“Not surprisingly, I was at training,” she says, laughing. “My immediate reaction was first, how generous, and second, it gave me an extra boost during practice. It adds motivation knowing others believe in us as well.”

That belief, whether it comes from a transformational gift or a $25 donation, is what sustains Team USA. As a non-government-funded team, U.S. Olympians and Paralympians rely on a community of supporters who believe in the journey, not just the outcome.

Santos-Griswold trains in a world where margins are thin and sacrifices are assumed. Like many athletes, she balances elite competition with education, part-time work, and the knowledge that sport does not come with a safety net.

“As you prepare for life beyond sport, there’s always this looming question,” she says. “While I have worked really hard to continue my education along with training so that I can have a more solid plan after sport, I’ve still sacrificed a lot of time training to be on top.”

She is blunt about the tradeoff.

“While I could have started working and earning a stable income, I’ve spent my time on the ice or in the gym, where income is never guaranteed,” she says. “Our support is often result-based, so to receive support that honors the hard work we put in regardless of results means a lot.”

The shift from reward to recognition changes how the future feels.

“For the first time, it’s such a relief to know that we have some guaranteed income beyond sport,” Santos-Griswold says. “Most people my age are already contributing to retirement funds or setting aside money for other aspects of their lives. This long-term support removes the pressure of feeling like I’m behind.”

Pressure is a familiar companion for elite athletes, but financial pressure is often the quietest and heaviest. It shapes decisions about how long to stay in a sport, when to walk away, and whether dreams are practical or indulgent. That is why sustained support through the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation (USOPF) matters so deeply. Gifts to the Team USA Fund help relieve that pressure, offering athletes something that can be hard to come by in elite sport — peace of mind.

“There’s definitely been a point in my career where I thought, it’s time to grow up, it’s time to work and earn a stable income with benefits,” she says. “But this has changed that. Continuing to play sport is now actively setting me up for the future.”

Across the Atlantic, the news landed differently, but no less powerfully, for wheelchair curler Oyuna Uranchimeg, who was competing at a world championship in Scotland when she first heard about the Stevens Award.

“We had a busy schedule competing, and then got an email,” she recalls. “My first reaction was, ‘Is this a scam?’ Because it sounded unbelievable.”

She laughs now, but disbelief is understandable. In most Olympic and Paralympic sports, particularly at the Paralympic level, financial certainty is rare.

“After Googling it and getting a video message from the USOPC president, I was like, ‘Oh, this must be real,’” she says. “The next day, everyone was talking about it. We were all surprised.”

Uranchimeg, who will take the ice in Milan at what will be her second Paralympic Games, competes while working full-time as a department coordinator at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Her days are split between administrative work and elite sport, with little separation and even less rest.

“Most of the sports, we don’t get paid,” she says. “We get some stipends to offset travel expenses, which is not nearly enough to cover everything.”

The reality is relentless.

“I am employed full time, and in the last eight years on the national team, I’ve taken so much time off — a lot of it unpaid — to go to competitions and train,” she says. “Nobody reimburses you for that. And if you don’t medal, there are no awards. You just lose that money and move on.”

The motivation to continue, she says, has never been financial.

“Everybody who is in it does it because they love it,” Uranchimeg says. “They have their own drive and determination.”

But love does not pay rent, nor does it address the structural challenges Paralympic athletes face.

This is where support becomes essential. Gifts of every size help bridge the gap between passion and practicality, making it possible for athletes to continue competing without carrying the full financial burden alone.

“The employment percentages for people with disabilities are very low,” she says. “So if you’re barely scraping by while doing sport at this level, any fund makes a huge difference — not just in training, but in life.”

After eight years on the national team, Uranchimeg is at a crossroads.

“I haven’t taken an actual vacation in eight years,” she says. “Being on the national team is basically another part-time job, except it’s unpaid.”

She had been thinking seriously about retirement after this cycle.

“And then this happens,” she says.

Looking ahead, the possibilities feel suddenly concrete.

“I got so excited,” Uranchimeg says about what she can do with the money. “This means I can get a house. I can put a down payment, get a more wheelchair accessible house, or have something built. I got super excited thinking about that.”

It’s a vision that extends beyond medals and ceremonies, into daily life — access, independence, and stability.

For both athletes, the Stevens gift also reinforces something they’ve always known —that success is never individual.

Uranchimeg echoes that sentiment with specificity.

“We rely solely on those kinds of support — grants and things,” she says. “I’ve received grants from the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and they helped tremendously.”

Early in her career, she turned to grassroots fundraising.

“I did a GoFundMe within my own community to help with training and travel,” she says. “I raised about $5,000, which is huge.”

Even with a full-time job, the margin is razor-thin.

“I can’t miss a paycheck,” she says. “I don’t have extra funds to dedicate to training and travel. The support from my community and from organizations that give grants helps tremendously.”

The Stevens Financial Security Award does not replace that ecosystem. It strengthens it. It reflects what’s possible when belief, generosity, and community come together and reminds us that each of us can play a role in supporting the athletes’ journey.

As we celebrate the milestones of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and look ahead to Los Angeles 2028, U.S. Olympians and Paralympians are still doing what they’ve always done: training, traveling, juggling, pushing. What changes is the weight they carry into the future.

For Santos-Griswold, it’s the freedom to keep believing.

For Uranchimeg, it’s the possibility of a home, and a next chapter shaped by choice rather than necessity.

The gift was designed to support athletes after the Games. But its impact is already here and it's a reminder that behind every Team USA athlete is a community of supporters helping fuel their dreams, one contribution at a time.

The Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 begin on March 6 with the Opening Ceremony in Verona, Italy.

For more information about the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, visit give.teamusa.org (or click here to make a gift).