Win an Olympic gold medal as an American, an Australian, an European or an Asian and there’s a very good chance you’ll be set for life financially. Yet, it’s only a handful of highly decorated and visible Canadian amateur athletes who will be able to cash on their Olympic successes. But the latest group of medallists from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics say that while it still takes a lot of knocking, there are more opportunities now than ever before.

“I don’t know if it’s our tax structure corporately or the way we view amateur sport but if you compare it to the U.S. or a country like Australia, you look at some of those athletes and a gold medal pretty well guarantees a million dollars,” says four-time Olympic hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser, who helped land one of the record 14 gold medals at Vancouver.

“In Canada our perspective is different, but coming out of Vancouver, I think it’s changed. There’s better opportunities now for athletes than there were two or three Olympics ago.” Even with medals in all four Olympics, Wickenheiser says it took her a long time to get to the point where “I can make a decent living doing what I do. It’s a good job, but you’re not going to get rich or make millions of dollars. It’s a comfortable living, but it’s not the same if you were an American athlete or athlete from another country.”

Few have been as successful as skeleton gold medallist Jon Montgomery, whose face was replayed over and over on international television as he paraded through Whistler, B.C., with a mug of beer in one hand while celebrating his victory.

His agent Russell Reimer recently came out and said he expects Montgomery to round up as much as $200,000 because of his Olympic success, including the $20,000 bonus paid by the Canadian Olympic Committee for winning gold. All of which caught the outgoing redhead a little by surprise.

“That would be great,” he said. “To say we’ve done that so far would be a lie, but it remains to see how it turns out. I’m definitely going to try and make some moves so it’ll position me to concentrate on athletics for the next four years and the push for 2014 and that’s really my focus right now.

“There’s been opportunities to try and capitalize on what happened in Vancouver and Whistler and that’s what I’m presently sorting through. I haven’t signed any deals or got any sponsors or anything of that nature, but there’s a number of opportunities that have presented themselves as a direct result of the 2010 Olympics.”

Montgomery’s popularity is such that he now commands a $12,500 speaking fee and he has given speeches as far away as Japan. But Thursday he’s off to Uganda to help with a Right To Play camp and then it’s over to South Africa to take in a World Cup soccer game or two.

“I quite enjoy that part of it,” he said of telling his Olympic story, among others, to corporate gatherings and such. “Being able to share my story with folks and them in turn sharing theirs with me . . . let them see, touch and wear the medal because it’s Canada’s gold medal, but the helmet is mine. You can’t wear my helmet . . . it’s mine and it’s special, but I want everyone to share the medal, wear it.”

Here’s what’s happening with some of the other 2010 Olympians:

• Gold-medal winning bobsled pilot Kallie Humphries of Calgary says she’s been able to do one or two speaking engagements most weeks that has allowed her to pay the rent and most of her bills, but has yet to land a sponsorship, which she’ll need if she’s to purchase a new $55,000 sled before the 2014 Games at Sochi, Russia.

“I’m hoping corporate Calgary steps up a little bit more over the next year or so because this is where we really counts, where we really need it,” she said. “But at the same time as athletes we’ll strive for excellence.”

She admitted to feeling a little frustration to see U.S. medallists bagging big sponsorship deals, land commercials, endorsements and such “but in Canada, that just doesn’t happen and I know Canadians can support amateur athletes because we did an amazing job in Vancouver. But it’s that four-year cycle starting again. You get a little support from the government and a little from the corporate side, but we’re not really excelling at anything, so I hope it gets a bit stronger. Only the future will tell.”

• Skeleton racer Mellissa Hollingsworth didn’t land a medal at these past Olympics, but brought one back from Turin, Italy, in 2006. Her country girl personality has enabled her to land a number of speaking engagements and a faithful sponsorship that allows her to “feel very comfortable.”

“Fifth at the Olympics isn’t that notable, but I think people see who I am as a person and that’s why they want to be involved in my journey,” she said. “(Sponsorship) is the cheapest form of our national pride . . . it’s a way to keep up the momentum, continue on that path (towards the next Olympics), keep up with our athletes and see what they’re doing.

“Every athlete has an amazing story to tell of how they got to where they’re at whether they have an Olympic medal or not.”

• Bobsled silver-medallist Helen Upperton thinks a more effective post-Olympic platform that would keep the athletes in the public’s eye, would go a long ways towards landing more financial support.

“The attention and focus just shifts to other things,” she said. “NHL playoffs, now the World Cup of soccer. The Olympics kind of fall by the wayside.

“The prize money from the (federal) government was a good start and I think the opportunity for sponsorship will be there. Nobody wants to come off Olympics success and struggle at the World Cup (circuit next season). We all want to go out there guns blazing and ready for podium finishes again and you can’t do that without money.”

• Seven-time Paralympic cross country gold medallist Brian McKeever admits he’s been busy with “a few functions here and there” but only now is getting back into training mode.

The legally blind skier, who teams with brother and guide Robin in competition, is hoping to land a solid sponsorship that’ll help him not only be a force again in 2014 but possibly make Canada’s Olympic cross country team again. He made the Olympic team in 2010, but was not selected for any races.

“I think personality will play a role,” he said, “and how marketable you are and with any luck, some companies will see Robin and myself as a marketable pair of guys and take us on board. If not, we still got some really good exposure from the Games.”