At just 17, Jamie Randall was invited to Marseille, France, to train with Australia’s Olympic sailing team in 2024. It felt like the opportunity of a lifetime. But back home in Perth, balancing sport with education became difficult.

“It’s just constant,” Randall said. “You’re training four to five times a week, trying to stay on top of assignments. You’re tired all the time.”

Now studying engineering at Curtin University, Randall faces both financial and mental strain. Competing internationally with his sailing partner costs around $80,000 a year.

He picks up support through scholarships, but most of the cost falls on his family.

One scholarship came through the Australian Institute of Sport Athlete Education Program, which awarded $2500. This paid for Randall’s current units.

Christine Higgisson, learning pathways consultant at the Australian Sports Commission, said support such as this could ease financial pressure and help athletes manage life beyond competition.

“A successful high-performance sporting career involves a series of well-managed transitions,” she said. “Supporting athletes in exploring their personal, professional, and career aspirations is central to helping them prepare for life beyond competition.”

Despite receiving support, Randall feels the systems are not favourable for student-athletes. Curtin University’s Elite Athlete Program promises flexibility, but Randall said his experience has been frustrating.

“I think I waited four weeks for a response for an assessment extension letter,” he said. “By then I definitely fell very far behind because I just didn’t have the time to do it.”

Curtin University’s Elite Athlete Program was contacted for comment about their program, but did not respond.

Beyond university, Randall said the culture surrounding high-performance sport in Australia was to go “all in,” prioritising training above all else.

“If it’s your time to be an athlete, it’s your time to fully be an athlete,” he said. “If you’re good enough to be at that level, the culture is that you should focus on it.”

For Randall, this meant making tough choices. At the start of 2025, his sailing partner pushed for six months in Europe competing. Randall cut it back to two. He still thought this was too much.

He’s already had to drop a unit of his degree to keep up. He said he “scrapes by” in exams, focusing instead on assignment marks since they’re easier to manage around training.

Research suggests that his experience isn’t unique. A 2024 survey by Queensland University of Technology found “social life and personal connections can often suffer because athletes feel they can’t be top priorities”.

Lead researcher Dr Andrew Gibson said intense focus on sport could “negatively impact wellbeing and ultimately performance.”

Despite the cost and exhaustion, Randall isn’t giving up. His sights remain on Olympic gold at Brisbane 2032. But he remains realistic: “You don’t really make money from the Olympics in Australia. A gold [medal] is about 20 grand. We spend way more than that every year.”

That’s why he’s committed to finishing his engineering degree.

“You can’t do everything,” he said. “You’ve got to make sacrifices. But you should make those sacrifices yourself and focus on what’s most important to you.”