The stakes for all these U.S. skiers, skaters, snowboarders and sliders over the next 100 days could not be more clear.

A chance for Olympic glory.

A chance to compete for a gold medal.

And this year, for the first time, a chance to make $100,000.

Thanks to a recent record $100 million donation to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, athletes who make the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic teams starting next year in Milan-Cortina will be eligible to receive a $100,000 award when they retire.

It's a game-changing piece of news for Olympic athletes, most of whom toil in obscurity outside of the two weeks the lights go on at the Games, and many of whom live in or near poverty: According to the foundation, some 57% of U.S. athletes earn $50,000 or less a year.

“At the age of 25, 26,

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