U.S. runner Nick Symmonds, who continues to have a sponsorship feud with USA Track & Field, "has polarized the little niche community of track and field athletes, media and fans and spread its tentacles into the mainstream," according to Tim Layden of SI.com. The language in the USATF’s “Statement of Conditions” is "so vague that it’s shocking it has not been previously challenged," but Symmonds "could have taken another route." He could have "signed the Statement of Conditions, and then gone to Beijing and boldly challenged it by wearing his Brooks gear everywhere except competition." Layden: "Agree or disagree, it’s hard to argue with his timing." There is a "much larger issue in play than Nick Symmonds and his Brooks T-shirts, one that cuts to the heart of a sport’s battle for relevance and its athletes’ battle for financial survival." U.S. runner Lauren Fleshman said, "This is the beginning of a much bigger story." Track & Field Athletes Association President and U.S. shot putter Adam Nelson said, "This is a great thing for the sport. Track and field needs to figure out whether it’s strictly an Olympic sport, or a professional sport that has an Olympic component. And it’s going to take bold actions by athletes" (SI.com, 8/11). The GUARDIAN's Marina Hyde writes with his sacrifice, the "business-minded Symmonds is shaping up as an interesting advocate for athletes’ rights in an age where competitors are still required to be self-defeatingly unworldly even as the vast corporations that have carved up sports with the governing bodies watch major events spray money into their bank accounts" (THEGUARDIAN.com, 8/12).
LOOKING FOR CHANGE: Fleshman said, "What a lot of athletes don't understand is that Nike is so all-inclusive it leaves little or no room for any other sponsor to get exposure. The economic analysis would definitely show that significantly harms the sponsor relationship." In Portland, Ken Goe notes Fleshman in '12 left Nike "for an ownership stake in Oiselle," which "makes athletic apparel for women and sponsors some elite track & field athletes." Nobody "seems to have an issue with athletes being required to wear the team uniform in competition, in team photos, in awards ceremonies, etc." But that would "seem to leave a lot of time during most days that wouldn't seem to fit into any reasonable definition of a team function." Fleshman said that most non-Nike athletes "are unwilling to fight USATF over sponsorship issues because they don't want to risk an appearance in an Olympics or World Championships." Goe notes few people "seem to believe Symmonds' stand will galvanize track & field athletes to suddenly organize and force USATF to change through collective action." But Fleshman "likens Symmonds" to former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon. She said, "This is one of the rare moments in history when the right person at the right time was willing to do the right thing. Love him or hate him, he is the one willing to do it" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/12).
