Drivers leading Olympic Athletes to Entrepreneurial Opportunities: An Analysis of the US Olympic Team from Tokyo 2020 : A bachelor thesis that analyzes the drivers towards entrepreneurship amongst US Olympic athletes with a qualitative research design.

Abstract: Background: The authors have observed that Olympic athletes of Team USA supplement their income, or finance themselves entirely, through entrepreneurial opportunities. This study focuses on Olympic Athletes from the United States - with a limitation to members of the US Olympic Rowing Team that competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.  Unbeknownst to many, athletes from Team USA, and Olympians globally, do not receive compensation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete at the Olympic Games. Instead, US Olympians receive a monthly stipend from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) ranging between $1000 to $2000 US Dollars. Provided this information, the authors were interested in identifying whether their financial situation, or any other drivers, made them more likely to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to identify and understand the drivers which led US Olympic athletes to improve their financial situation while on the US Olympic team.  Method: This thesis focuses primarily on qualitative data gathered from interviews with eight members of the United States Olympic Rowing Team who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. To fulfill our purpose, the authors elected to utilize the explorative study framework, with a purposive sampling and following an inductive reasoning approach. Moreover, the primary data from our interview is collected through semi-structured interviews, which were conducted through (Zoom) virtual video conferencing calls. Findings: From our interviews with members of the US Olympic Rowing Team who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, we have identified six (6) common factors shared amongst our interviewees – leading them to pursue one or more entrepreneurial opportunity/ies. Those common factors were: (1) The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Stipend for athletes does not fully finance their monthly expenditure; (2) the athletes’ recognition of their rising brand value; (3) the unpredictability of their training and competition schedules; (4) the pressure on athletes for professional work experience; (5) an interest in Entrepreneurship; and (6) their requirements for flexible employment. Conclusion: After weighing our findings, the authors would agree that the most compelling driver to pursue entrepreneurship was the need for an additional income to supplement their USOPC Stipend. However, the authors must also add that these drivers cannot be individually held responsible for the pursuance of an entrepreneurial opportunity – to the contrary, the authors would propose that the most reasonable interpretation is that US Olympians are pursuing entrepreneurship as a result of a combination of the aforementioned drivers influencing their lives – as shown by all of our interviewees being affected by three or more of the identified drivers.