The money has been provided to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation (USOPF) by the USOPC's first mental health ambassadors, Yucca and Gary Rieschel.

According to the USOPC, the gift will "supplement important funding for USOPC mental health offerings", including in-person and virtual counselling options for American athletes, awareness campaigns and background checks for prospective registry counsellors.

It will also allow the USOPC to hire a director of mental health services and full-time mental health officers, as previously announced by the organisation.

The gift is also set to be used to provide supplemental funding for athletes who require additional mental health assistance, the USOPC said.

The creation of the fund follows the USOPC setting up a mental health taskforce to help athletes, coaches, officials and administrators during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The USOPC’s commitment to athlete mental health is being realised through a broad expansion of resources and a promise to keep mental health at the forefront of our organisational focus," said USOPC chief of athlete services Bahati VanPelt.

"We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the Rieschel family, and we look forward to putting their gift to good use by funding top-tier offerings in athlete care, wellness and self-help resources for Team USA athletes."

USOPF President Christine Walshe also welcomed the donation.

"Yucca and Gary have been deeply committed to Team USA athletes since 2013," said Walshe. 

"Now, their commitment to athletes’ mental health and wellness will have a transformative impact on the USOPC’s programmes and resources, allowing the organisation to serve even more athletes in the mental health space and encouraging other donors to engage with Team USA."