Ilia Malinin of Team United States competes in Men's Single Skating - Short Program on day four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

Ilia Malinin of Team United States competes in Men’s Single Skating – Short Program on day four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Behind every Ilia Malinin or Alysa Liu, there is an army of elite figure skating coaches and choreographers who have been with them from the beginning. On today’s show, how much does it cost to achieve Olympic glory and why is it so expensive? 

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Why the Olympics cost so much 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. Â