DEBI THOMAS

Debi Thomas was once the most famous figure skater in the United States, a trailblazer who changed the face of American figure skating. She even became the only ice skater of African-American descent to bag a medal in Winter Olympics figure skating.

Once considered a prodigy, she has since undergone two divorces, one of which cost her most of her assets. Thomas even lost custody of her son due to some habits, with her finances taking a hit with all these major life events. This is why she had $2k in value left in her Olympic medal and only enough funds to live on at around $500 per month.

ARANTXA SÁNCHEZ-VICARIO

Blood might be thicker than water, but it doesn’t pay the bills for you. Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario is a former world No. 1 Spanish tennis player. She left the sport with an impressive $17 million in cash prizes and another $40 million in endorsements.

She had already earned enough to support herself and her children, but unfortunately, her parents wasted it all. The winner of 14 Grand Slams shared with a judge in 2015 that she was “in ruins” and her folks blew her $60 million through mismanagement. Although she opted to sue the accused members of her family, she could get nothing back.

DOROTHY HAMILL

Dorothy Hamill won the figure skating gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics when she was just 19, but inevitably, it was tough to manage finances when one is a teenager. In 1996, 20 years after her victory at the Winter Games, Hamill filed for bankruptcy.

Reports from the time claim she said that she started to see trouble when she separated from her husband, who started providing bad financial advice. However, her friends said she had terrible spending habits, and her business managers used to try and control her spending, but she would quit after a while and then go back to buying things.