# ‘Most of us are broke’: Canadian sprint star lifts the lid on athlete finances

*By Simon | March 22, 2024*

![‘Most of us are broke’: Canadian sprint star lifts the lid on athlete finances](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/why-canadian-olympians-are-broke.jpg)

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## 󠀁[‘Most of us are broke’: Canadian sprint star lifts the lid on athlete finances](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/03/most-of-us-are-broke-canadian-sprint-star-lifts-the-lid-on-athlete-finances/)󠁿

22 March 2024

Canadian sprinter [Nick Wammes](https://globalkeirin.com/rider/nick-wammes/) has
described the financial challenges facing track sprint cyclists, even as someone
performing at the highest levels of the sport.

‘Most athletes competing for Canada at the international level are broke,’ he
reveals in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

‘You’re going to start seeing more of your favourite Olympians as the hype
around the (Paris 2024) games builds,’ he says. ‘It’s a very common
misconception that all these athletes are very well taken care of, very well
paid. I’m here to say that’s simply not the case.’

![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NtChZ_ZVnT8/maxresdefault.jpg)

Most Canadian athletes rely heavily on funding from national and regional
government sources, he explains. Wammes himself receives just over US$ 15,000
per year from Sport Canada, plus an additional US$ 5,000 from his Ontario
province. He also received a US$ 10,000 ‘development card’ to support him
through the early years of his career.

It doesn’t add up to a lot for a full-time athlete representing his country on
the biggest stage.

But it’s significantly less than the US$ 50,000 which the _lowest_-ranked
Japanese professional (male) keirin competitor can expect to earn annually.

And yet, Wammes continues: ‘A lot of athletes, including myself, still need to
pay their own way to get to competitions, and cover some training expenses.’ For
example, Wammes must pay an additional ‘project fee’ for every race he attends.

DerbyWheel’s forecasted prize money would be revolutionary for most current and
potential future Olympians. Documents posted online in 2023 proposed that the
average earnings for a rider in the top ‘Special’ class would be US$ 10,000 per
weekend.

And on The Piste Take podcast, it was observed that ‘even in (DerbyWheel’s) B
Class, you can essentially make in a weekend what a (British Cycling) Academy
wage was in a year.’

If DerbyWheel can establish itself as a sustainable global series, it stands to
change the lives of literally hundreds of eager amateurs outside national
development programmes – _and most of those on programmes, too._

**Categories:** Clippings
**Tags:** dwnews, riders