Allyson Felix Signs with Athleta

I think it's a good get for them. I can't imagine she's making much money tho. But did you even see her at the us chsmpionships? She actually had a lil belly and no abs. Just not in her usual shape at all. No lean and strong as she will be by the time Doha and especially 2020 rolls around. Most likely she'll be back on stuff that's not entirely legal and I'm perfectly fine with that. It's how all legends in any sports stay around.

Honestly tho, I know her speed isn't what it was, but our female shorter sprints are terrible. I think she has a better chance making the Olympics in the 200. Our female sprinters are struggling. Hopefully shacarri is back running like she did at ncaa's. Other than her tho I don't see anyone with even a chance at placing in the 100m.

The 200m next year is probably all the same names that we know. Unless the Jr to be, hs spring phenom, Tamari Davis takes a big step forward next year like Brianna Williams did her Jr year. But I'd be pretty surprised. Davis has a big time coach but Ato seems to be pulling all the right strings for Williams.

Anyway hopefully it's a Felix double, 200m and 400m, at next years US championships. Lol.

Alabama BS wrote:

I’ve always found AF to be a classy runner, great talent and admired that she always wanted to do relays.

However, I’ve also thought she maybe has been the most boring runner ever. She never says anything in any interview. Cliche answers. No charisma at all.

Dead on. It is really too bad. Amazing talent, runs in fun and multiple events... but so boring. She could have really exploded.

That said, this is a great signing for her and Athleta. Athleta gets a photogenic US track legend. Allyson gets a brand to herself whose target customer is wealthy women. She can have her face plastered all over Athleta stores. They can eat up her mother story if they want. She can retire with the brand and still pimp their stuff. Athleta is going for the full lifestyle stuff and will care less about the race cycle.

There’s a huge poster of her on the Athleta store north of San Francisco already.

Phil Knight wrote:

Dead on. It is really too bad. Amazing talent, runs in fun and multiple events... but so boring. She could have really exploded.

That said, this is a great signing for her and Athleta. Athleta gets a photogenic US track legend. Allyson gets a brand to herself whose target customer is wealthy women. She can have her face plastered all over Athleta stores. They can eat up her mother story if they want. She can retire with the brand and still pimp their stuff. Athleta is going for the full lifestyle stuff and will care less about the race cycle.

Noah Lyle shows some 'personality' and people say he's a clownshow. Allyson Felix just shows up and wins races, and people say she's boring. What do people really want from top T & F athletes ?

Allison is a fighter. Amazing athlete and amazing mom. About 8 months age she had a baby by C-section, traumatic yes, but she came out and ran and qualified for the team in the relays. At 33 she is no where near the end of her career. Give her a year of solid training her fitness will return. Sometimes women who have faced something more powerful and likely more frightening than toeing the line in a race, can come back stronger than ever. Once you go through pregnancy and birth racing becomes something where fear loses its power. She's one tough lady, a competitor. I applaud Athleta for picking her up. She will make them proud. It is hers to win. Go get it, Allison!

It's all irrelevant. In running people look at what the athlete has on their feet not who makes the vest, shorts etc. She will have to either buy her own shoes or sign some sort of deal with a shoe company- unless she's going to do a Zola Budd!

Dont think so wrote:

Star wrote:

I didn’t see the the OP write that Nike dropped her.

But Nike did pass on the opportunity of resigning one of the most marketable athletes in the sport who could be an ambassador after retirement.

What do you mean they passed? They made her an offer. She rejected it. Then she went and mouthed them off publicly.

Additionally, t&f is a fringe sport. None of the athletes, male or female, are marketable. Usain Bolt was the only marketable one, but he is retired

“Mouthed them off”? You reveal a lot about yourself there.

riddlemethis wrote:

Phil Knight wrote:

Dead on. It is really too bad. Amazing talent, runs in fun and multiple events... but so boring. She could have really exploded.

That said, this is a great signing for her and Athleta. Athleta gets a photogenic US track legend. Allyson gets a brand to herself whose target customer is wealthy women. She can have her face plastered all over Athleta stores. They can eat up her mother story if they want. She can retire with the brand and still pimp their stuff. Athleta is going for the full lifestyle stuff and will care less about the race cycle.

Noah Lyle shows some 'personality' and people say he's a clownshow. Allyson Felix just shows up and wins races, and people say she's boring. What do people really want from top T & F athletes ?

+1

SalmonRice wrote:

I adore Allyson Felix and she's been one of the most influential runners in history but this whole issue with her finding a sponsorship has less to do with being pregnant and more the fact she's at the end of her career. [ cut] She looks permanently exhausted in all her photos and while running. It's a simple result of a pro career since she was 18.

[cut] Felix won't be coming back to win Olympic medals or make even teams from this pregnancy. Her body is exhausted, her career was long, her pregnancy was traumatic...none of that leads to great athletic performances. So she signed with a little nobody athletic company as I doubt anyone else offered more than pennies for an aging athlete about to admit the truth and retire.

The idea that Felix's body is exhausted from her long career to my mind is speculation. Possible, but we don't know that. Whether she "looks" exhausted or not is a misleading criterion when she is in the midst of nursing her baby right now, possibly short on sleep, training on top of a mother's duties, depending on how much her husband may or may not be helping out during the intense early phases of childcare post-pregnancy, etc.

Aside from that, there is plenty of empirical evidence that pregnancy improves performances afterward, not the other way around, and that it may induce hormonal changes in the body that have long-lasting positive effects. Of course, the fact she had to have a C-section complicates matters, but there have been numerous female track and field athletes who went on to even better things after having their first baby.

The main issue is really whether Felix's long career has in fact taken enough of a toll on her body to put her past her prime, or simply the fact of her age at 33. Not her pregnancy, per se, unless raising a child might perhaps take a toll on her future motivation, which happens for some women, but for others, no. Will certainly be interesting to see what unfolds, regardless of the outcome.

Ummm... which athlete got more air time than Felix during the USATF? That's your advertising value. The same thing will happen next year during the OT, and there will be more eyeballs. If she makes the team next year, there will be even more eyeballs. If she wins 4x4 (or even mixed relay), it could easily be the biggest T&F story of the Olympics for the US audience.

She does not have to win another individual medal to be valuable to her sponsor.

milermb wrote:

It's all irrelevant. In running people look at what the athlete has on their feet not who makes the vest, shorts etc. She will have to either buy her own shoes or sign some sort of deal with a shoe company- unless she's going to do a Zola Budd!

This is egregiously false.

I'm surprised she didn't go with Oiselle. Like most posters I don't think she is going to be competitive at the Olympic level next year but if she wants to compete at the top level I would think a company that already has the infrastructure in place would be a better option than a company that is figuring things out as they go along.

Athleta has been getting involved in the local running community where I'm at but it has almost all been trail running stuff.

Offering some pittance is the same as dropping someone. Similar to "constructive dismissal," it's totally legal for Nike to do this, but we were debating morality not legality.

Hvuvvuvy wrote:

Once again , Nike did not drop her she declined the deal they offered her. That simple.

SalmonRice wrote:

I adore Allyson Felix...

Since my post was deleted, I will post my opinion again, in light of SalmonRice’s comment, knowing that this site is about balanced commenting:

Great move by Athleta.

She is an amazing athlete, but I still can’t stand her.

If posts are to be deleted, those on both sides should be included in the purge.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

SalmonRice wrote:

I adore Allyson Felix...

Since my post was deleted, I will post my opinion again, in light of SalmonRice’s comment, knowing that this site is about balanced commenting:

Great move by Athleta.

She is an amazing athlete, but I still can’t stand her.

If posts are to be deleted, those on both sides should be included in the purge.

Some people adore Kara Goucher. Some can’t stand her same thing.

Like AF, KG is past her prime and isn’t getting the same sponsorship money that she used to.

Many examples on the male side of the equation too.