Olympic Athletes Worldwide Suffering from Economic Downturn. And the Olympics itself is having to face Olympic sized cuts in the budget.

These cuts are not just happening in the U.S. but in Europe and everywhere in between. It's a tough year for Vancouver to host and while they scramble to get everything in place to host the event, they've had to make some difficult decisions. It's hard to showcase your country on a shoestring budget and we'll see how the Canadians meet that challenge.

Even more difficult, is the number of athletes who won't be able to go and fulfill a lifelong dream because of lack of funds for training, transportation or because teams can't take as many athletes as they have in the past.

Sponsorship is down. But sponsorship is what catapults a brand from anonymity to center stage.

People see an athlete wear something, they have to have it. What other explanation do you have for all these one arm arm bands you see at all levels of basketball play from rec league to high school to college? Kobe. Kobe wears an arm band and the trend is set. Most of the kids aren't even sure why they have on the single arm band. They just know it's hot.

It was at the Olympic games that kinesio tape became a hot item simply because they gave out thousands of rolls of tape to athletes.

Everyone wanted to know more. What was that on Kerri Walsh's back. That was, from a marketing perspective, a genius move. It put kinesio on the map and people scrambling to create their own brand of tape.

So while budget cuts are still happening, anyone who wants to go from small time to big time can do it with Olympic sponsorship. Nothing puts a brand out there like a huge sports bonanza. If you have a product, consider sponsoring an athlete or a team on a small scale. Olympic limelight will reward you many times over. And an athlete will be able to realize his or her dream.