U.S. sprinter Marion Jones, who is featured in the new
whatever.nike.com ad campaign, "will get more ad exposure
with a deal with General Motors, to be announced today,"
according to Dick Patrick of USA TODAY. Jones will be
featured in spots for the SUV GMC Envoy, which use the
theme, "Where Beauty Meets Brawn" (USA TODAY, 1/26).
THE HUNT FOR NEW CLIENTS: Patrick also reports that CO-
based Gold Medal Management's (GMM) Brad Hunt is
"negotiating" with Octagon, which is "seeking to acquire
several" athletes from Hunt's firm, including '96 Olympic
Gold Medalist Allen Johnson. Patrick notes that
"ironically" Hunt used to work for Advantage Int'l, which
recently became part of Octagon. Some of Hunt's athletes
have told Octagon's Renaldo Nehemiah, who left GMM last
year, that "they would like to join" him at Ocatagon. But
Nehemiah "had a non-competitive clause" in his contract with
Hunt, "meaning he couldn't take clients if he left for
another firm." Nehemiah said he "conveyed" the fact that he
had a non-compete arrangement to Hunt's clients but added he
"would address the hierarchy at Octagon." Patrick writes
that should the deal go through, "possibly this week, Hunt's
only track clients might be" Michael Johnson and Dan
O'Brien. Hunt, who also represents skier Picabo Street and
swimmer Amy Van Dyken, on whether he is "lessening" his
involvement in track and field: "If this goes through, yes.
If it doesn't go through, no. They've got to step up and
make it worth my while to have it go through. Otherwise
there are serious legal issues involved." Patrick notes
that Octagon has "increased its involvement" with track and
field, as it is now the marketing agency for USATF and has
recently purchased the Millrose Games (USA TODAY, 1/26).
