‘It’s sad’: Utah woman is a ‘future Olympian.’ Travel to race in the North American Cup cost her $5,238—out of pocket
A skeleton racer just revealed how much it cost her to compete in the North American Cup as part of Team USA. Out of pocket, TikTok user Gracie (@Oceangirlgracie) spent $5,238.
Gracie, a regular poster who explains some of the ins and outs of skeleton racing, said, “ That’s a rounding down of about a thousand dollars a race… These are destinations that are easy to get to. I’m not going to Europe right now,” in a video with over 10,000 views.
It turns out, she and other skeleton athletes frequently have to pay out of pocket to compete for a chance to represent the U.S. every year in the Olympics. It’s an “eight to 10-year” process that can, based on Gracie’s post, rack up major bills.
What is a ‘skeleton athlete’?
Skeleton is a relatively uncommon winter sport in the U.S., but it’s quite popular in the U.K. and other European countries. It’s a sled race where racers get a headstart by running with a sled. They then use the momentum from their headstart to ride down a hill.
It’s a sport that’s fairly similar to luge, with the exception that riders must face down when descending a snow-packed track. When Gracie referred to herself as a “professional” penguin in her video, she was actually referring to this distinct characteristic. What makes it perilous is that these “professional penguins” are usually traveling down a track at 80 miles per hour.
Currently, the Olympics have put a light on the sport, with official events taking place on Feb. 12 and 15, respectively.
Wait, Why isn’t Gracie at the Olympics?
Many commenters seemed confused as to why Gracie wasn’t in Italy at this very moment. Afterall, Olympic skeleton races are currently happening, and she’s on Team USA. Well, Gracie explained exactly why she wasn’t there in one of her videos.
Gracie is a member of Team USA, but she is not competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. Since 2002, the United States has only sent two women to compete in skeleton every year, with the exception of the 2002 Olympics, where they only sent one.
According to Gracie, it takes “eight to 10 years” to actually train to the level required to compete in Skeleton at an Olympic level. Since it’s a niche sport, many athletes have diverse backgrounds, having been involved in completely different sports first before competing in Skeleton. They enter later but train for extensive periods.
Skeleton racers have to compete in the World Cup, the European Cup, and pretty much every other circuit in order to actually compete and get ‘points’. For that reason, Gracie has a “long road” ahead of her. It’s only her third year of training and her first year competing, so it may take her many more years to end up competing in the Olympics. For now, she’ll be ‘on tour’ often paying out of her own pocket to travel internationally and
How much did Gracie spend to compete in Canada?
Gracie is competing for the first time on tour for Team USA. Her stop in Whistler, Canada, cost her $3,170. She spent $2,068 to stay at a training camp in Lake Placid, Utah. In total, competing for Team USA in five races cost her $5,238 out of pocket.
Gracie explained that for her Lake Placid trip, she spent $908 on a rental car, $60 on gas, $220 to check her bags on an airplane, $26 on medication and other essentials, $797 on her flight to Canada, $50 on a grocery store stop, and an extra $7 to use a cart at the airport to transport her belongings. Her housing and meals were covered at the training center, but everything else was out of pocket.
She made an important point during her video as well: These costs are all for competing in North American races. They’ll increase when and if she competes in any European cups, which is essentially a requirement to be an Olympic skeleton racer. That means that Gracie and other skeleton racers like her have to pay much more than what Gracie mentioned to compete in the Olympics.
Why doesn’t the U.S. invest more in skeleton racing?
Right now, Gracie is in a period of her career where she has to invest time, energy, and money into the sport without a promise of getting it back.
As she explained in many of her videos, U.S. athletes have to get “points” to compete. In order to do that, she has to travel to various states and countries. But the United States doesn’t necessarily pay for athletes to travel and get these points.
“Disappointed in Team USA for not supporting athletes in all sports,” one commenter said.
Another viewer added, “We would be unstoppable at the Olympics if we just supported our athletes better.”
@oceangirlgracie THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me along this journey so far! It means so much to me and I'm incredibly grateful ? LOVE YOU BIG TIME #skeletonathlete #futureolympian #winterolympics #teamUSA #wintersport ♬ original sound – oceangirlgracie
We’ve reached out to Gracie and a representative for the U.S. bobsled and skeleton team via email.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
