Becoming the first American man to win an Olympic medal in luge has opened up a world of possibilities for Chris Mazdzer.
“There are some endorsement deals coming my way,” the silver medalist told Cheddar. “This has completely changed my life. It hasn’t changed who I am, but it changes what I can do.”
Mazdzer points out that Olympic athletes can work long and hard without ever seeing much financial rewards. He, for example, had been training for 21 years, juggling practice with bartending and working weddings just to make ends meet.
He says, “Some athletes work two, three jobs, just to keep doing what they love doing.”
To raise awareness, Mazdzer donated $5,000 -- about a third of his winnings -- to athlete-mentoring organization Classroom Champions. He’s also raised over $35,000 more in matched contributions.
He’s also planning for a future after sports.
“I want to go into financial planning, but I also want to go into...life fulfillment planning,” he said. “If you can manage how you view money and if you can manage how you feel about what you’re trying to do with your life…then you have the chance to be completely at one with yourself.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/olympic-luger-chris-mazdzer-makes-history).
The stationary bike and treadmill maker is now valued at over $4 billion after its latest funding round. Maureen Farrell, reporter at the Wall Street Journal, tells Cheddar that most companies claim to be the Netflix of their industry, but in Peloton's case, it may actually be true.
These are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday.
Omar Raja, the founder of Bleacher Report's House of Highlights Instagram, said social media is "a young person's television," and that professional sports leagues have been reaching out to him to help them bolster the audience for live sports.
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
Fitness platform ClassPass raised $85 million in new funding, bringing its total amount raised to $255 million. CEO Fritz Lanman breaks down his expansion plans and why Classpass wants to be your one-stop shop for both fitness and wellness.
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Baker Machado met with Tucker Roberts, President of Philadelphia Fusion and Joe Marsh, CFO of Philadelphia Fusion to talk the team's success, their chances this weekend and the league overall.
