Green Comes Before Gold For Families of Olympians

Some top athletes have stipulations written into their endorsement contracts that their parents will be provided hotel and transportation to the Olympics. Isaac refused to say if any of Speedo's athletes have such a provision, but it is widely assumed among parents that the athletes who are expected to win multiple medals have such deals. For instance, many parents and officials say the family of swimmer Michael Phelps, who won six gold medals at the Athens Games in 2004, will have its costs covered in Beijing. An agent for Octagon, which represents Phelps, would not reveal the details of the swimmer's deals but said the endorsements have left Phelps with a large pool of money from which those costs will be deducted.

"Some athletes do have endorsement agreements that help underwrite the expenses associated with family member travel," USOC chief communications officer Darryl Seibel said. "But those agreements are unique."

More common are stories such as that of Jim and Julie Weir, who were ecstatic when their daughter, Amanda, made the 2004 Olympic swim team, only to learn minutes later that it would cost more than $20,000 for the trip to Athens.

Barely a month remained before the Games and the Weirs, who hardly are destitute (Jim is an engineer for the Atlanta area office of a Danish acoustics company and Julie is a schoolteacher), nonetheless looked at each other, with Jim remarking, "Well, I guess we'll watch it on TV." It was only after many other swimmers' parents expressed shock that they would not attend the Games that they scrambled to find the money to get to Greece. Their neighborhood swim team contributed money, as did Jim's employer. Someone they knew explained their plight to Coca-Cola, which is headquartered in Atlanta. Coke executives offered a room at the hotel the company had rented in Athens and tickets to the opening ceremonies.

"It's so expensive. I know families who have mortgaged their houses to go," said Robin Vanderkaay, the mother of swimmer Peter Vanderkaay, who is expected to compete in the 400-meter and 200-meter freestyle events in Beijing.

"I think people would think we would have no trouble finding a way to go," added Vanderkaay, whose husband is a dentist in their home town of Rochester, Mich. "It's hard for everyone. But we'll figure it out and do what we have to do. Maybe we'll dissolve some assets or use an equity line, get another Visa card. We'll be able to do something."

The Russells cannot afford to take out a second loan, not with Lawan as the family's main wage earner working as a program support specialist at the SBA and Gary Sr., disabled from the knee injury, taking care of the children. They have enough to hold on to their house but not much more. They cannot absorb more debt.

Even though Gary Jr. -- whom they also call "Little Gary" -- is a legitimate medal hope in the 119-pound weight class, amateur boxing does not generate the same sponsorship opportunities that a sport such as swimming usually does. If the money doesn't come from cake sales and the generosity of others, the Russells probably won't be able to go to Beijing.

Back in December, the YMCA's Yates put together a fundraiser for the family at the Capital Sports Complex in District Heights. She portrayed the event as a celebration of the success of a young man in an area in which such commemorations are rare. She did this in the hopes of drawing prominent leaders from Prince George's County. The plan worked. U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.) spoke, as did Darrell A. Miller (D), the mayor of Capitol Heights, and James L. Walls Jr. (D), the mayor of District Heights. Tommie Broadwater Jr., a former Maryland state senator, served as caterer, serving heaps of chicken, potatoes and beef.

Julie Goldsticker, USA Boxing's media director, spent her own money to fly out from the organization's headquarters in Colorado Springs and speak at the banquet. "I just can't say no to that family," she said, wondering if maybe she should have just donated the cost of the airfare instead.

Some of the guests promised money, and a few presented Gary Jr. with plaques of appreciation. "It's important to have someone like him," said Miller, who donated $250. "Especially in communities like Capitol Heights. When I talk to youth, they don't have a lot of hope for themselves. They get beaten down."

The fundraiser helped, but not much. So far, Lawan Russell said, they have raised $3,000.

"I wish I had more guidance to give them," said Goldsticker, who brought two people of each fighters' choosing to Colorado Springs in September and explained the potential costs, urging them to start planning. "I told them they could make a lot of money just off the T-shirts of Gary if they sold them at all the boxing events around D.C. because there are a lot of events there."

Yates is taken by the Russells' stubborn optimism. They talk about their trip to Beijing as if it's a certainty, even though they have raised less than a quarter of what they need. "I don't see it any other way," she said. "I believe somebody is going," even if it's only Gary Sr.

Lawan Russell is a religious woman, convinced God is looking over her family. Therefore, she says, she doesn't worry about Beijing. She pushes on, selling her husband's $10 cakes and the $10 T-shirts with Little Gary's photo on the front. She occasionally checks the jar, with their name written across the front, that the manager of the Family Dollar store on Marlboro Pike in Capitol Heights placed by the register.

"I'm not considering not going because the Lord promised," she said. "I don't know how, but somebody's going to come through. He will do it, I know it. And I know that as long as we do all we can as the Russell family, He will do the rest."

Late one night a few months ago, Gary Sr. received a strange call on his cellphone. The man on the other end introduced himself as a boxing promoter of some note. Gary Sr. asked the man how he got his number, and the man said only that it came from someone in the "boxing community." The man then said he had been following Little Gary's career and was certain the younger Russell will medal this summer. So certain, in fact, that he wanted to sign Little Gary to a contract. And, by the way, the man said, he had heard the family was having trouble affording the trip to Beijing.

If Little Gary agreed to sign with his company, the man said, such things could be taken care of.

Gary Sr. was stunned. Sell his son's future for a trip to the Olympics? Not a chance. "It was like there was this one pitchfork on one shoulder and on the other shoulder there was a little voice saying, 'Don't listen,' " he recalled with a laugh.

But soon there were more calls from more promoters with similar pitches. Let them have Little Gary after the Olympics and Gary Sr. and Lawan's expenses magically would be paid. Each time Gary Sr. refused. He has been around boxing long enough to know that the promoters' offers might sound wonderful now, but the promise would come with a price in the form of bad contracts with little control.

Gary Sr. said he would rather miss the Olympics altogether.

As the one who has trained Little Gary his entire life, Gary Sr. does not trust others with his son. He always has been something of an iconoclast in the local boxing scene, bickering with other coaches and officials, perceiving their actions to be less than honorable. He sees this battle to go to Beijing in much the same light.

"We've done it our way for so long, it's always been an uphill battle," he said. "Not just with Gary but in trying to keep the whole family focused [and off the streets]. We want to keep them interested in things. So we're going to do this the right way. This is one more little trial for us."