Nia Akins and Brooks part ways

Nia just posted her song on Instagram about burning bridges. She's certainly not happy at all about something that happened between her and Brooks.

On her Instagram it says this is her first race as unsponsored, How can someone who was just in the Olympics, who won the Olympic Trials in a running event be Unsponsored, If it was in the Walking or Throwing events it would make sense, but not in a running event, granted it is not a glamour running event like the 100, 1500/Mile or Marathon. I would have thought Companies would love to have an Olympian representing them.

First I heard Alaysha Johnson does not have a shoe contract, now Nia Akins, It Makes no sense, They should be MULTI MILLIOINAIRES based on their ABILITY, what they EARNED through MERIT, if you are one on the 5-20 Best in the World at what you do, in lots of things you would have MILLIONS, It makes ZERO sense

You obviously skipped over most of the posts in this thread which explained all that.

Nia Akins herself decided to be unsponsored. Brooks was sponsoring her but Nia decided to quit her Brooks sponsorship right after the Olympics for reasons that she has not yet disclosed.

Well, that's just it, isn't it?

The company is happy to reap the benefits of their investment, having sponsored her leading to the games and now rightfully advertising that.

But not, for the low sponsorship cost of a fairly unknown national finalist, they are getting the clout of an Olympic contender. She has now won USATF nationals two summers in a row and run well in both 2023 Worlds (finals) and the 2024 Olympics (semis)... has Brooks upped the money accordingly?

Who really cares?

Did Coach Mackay even go to Paris?

Nia just said she's being "persecuted for doing right"

She also blocked comments.

What the fu-k happened at brooks?

I see a lawsuit in the way... huge scandal about to blow up...

Three possibilities:
1. There was some inappropriate physical behaviour of some sort
2. There was a disagreement between athletes or between her and Danny
3. She caught someone doping and reported it to Brooks and they did nothing so she left

No wonder she is underperforming. So much outside the running part has been going in her life clearly.

the sad truth is there is VERY little worth for being a top track runner outside of a few well known stars. particularly in womens athletics where in niche sports the top earners are simply just chosen based on looks/slootiness/onlyfans (livy dunne being a good example)

what revenue does an non medalist unknown olympian like nia truly bring to a shoe company. are women really buying running shoes because they saw nia akins where it?

I think my favorite part of this thread is that it assumes brooks, danny, the beasts, etc did something wrong. And that Nia has no fault in this. From interviews and YouTube clips from workouts, it doesn't appear that she has a high running nerd IQ or love for the sport. Maybe she has other passions that are easier to pursue when not on a professional team? Maybe she heard hiw much some other athletes are paid and is now wanting that amount based on her accolades?

Something had to go off the rails for her to walk away from the Beasts. I have to assume that Flynn Sports tried to talk her into fulfilling the rest of her contract and she said no. If that meant she walked away from any bonuses for making the Olympic team, then it's on her. Hope she saved her money and/or makes enough from the post-Olympic tour to support herself the next few months.

As someone else earlier in the thread suggested, she may not have the personality to market the product. Assuming she stays with Flynn Sports, it might be a challenge for them to sell her to another shoe company.

Or maybe she wants to get the hell outta the sport and use that Penn degree.

Yikes, she actually used the word persecuted? Ugh.

Also, the comment that she is not very good at promoting Brooks’s shoes or gear seems true to me. In the video posted where she is talking about her shoe rotation, she seemed unenthusiastic about her sponsor and their products (to put it mildly).

Nia walked away. Brooks did not end things.

If Nia didn’t need the money then she wouldn’t have shown up at the Diamond league meet. She would have walked away from that meet as well.

Danny has been an absentee Coach since his wife’s suicide. He also seems to have his favorites and Nia has never been one of them.

Lawsuit is in the works. Someone at Brooks will probably lose their job.

Anxious to see how Kara and Des navigate this. You can’t act like you are on the cutting edge of what is happening in the sport and ignore this.

Where is Fast Women or Runners World?

THIS IS A STORY.

This is a very hyperbolic post without any clear supporting evidence. Initially exciting but ultimately unfulfilling, kind of like a Big Mac.

Well done for fitting right in at the LetsRun forum.

Runner’s World and Fast Women? Where the hell is Gault and LRC on this? Prove that you are actual sports journalists and not just bored middle aged men that do a recap show after watching meets on TV.

I agree there seems to be a story here. She has what, maybe 3 races left this season? All probably in Europe. So if you want to make a coaching change it would be super easy to just keep wearing the beasts singlet while quietly doing your own thing (this seems to be what Grant Fisher did at the end of last year).

If Danny didn't go to Paris that's pretty bad, but no where near grounds for a lawsuit. If you feel like your coach has favorites and can't work it out with them, that is a great reason to leave. But it happens and no one is getting fired over it. Track and field media is basically useless and they aren't going to risk ruffling any feathers if they don't have to. Right now it is too easy for them to brush it off as "athlete slightly underperforms at the Olympics, decides to make a change". So if there is more to it then please elaborate!

Is it ideal for your coach to not be in Paris? Sure but it's not insurmountable and a strong coach will have prepared their athlete to be ready without them right by their side. If Danny Mackey needs to stay in the US, take care of his child as a single parent, and coach remotely, I think that is absolutely understandable. A good coach will have their athletes prepared and strong athletes will be ready to be there without their coach and have empathy for their coach who has gone through significant personal challenges.

Maybe there is no story. 2:38 today for DFL in Silesia 1000m.