Nike seems ALARMINGLY reluctant to support Kiptum

You're making it sound as if Kipchoge was some super popular runner and Nike just chose to latch on to him. Not the case. THEY made him popular. Nike is running his instagram. Every inch of his personality was crafted in some board room for maximum popularity by Nike. They can do the same thing to Kiptum at a moments notice.

They are ALARMINGLY quiet on Rupp.

This thread is comically dumb.

Which world record did Rupp break this weekend?

None.

Also ALARMINGLY quiet about Mantz and Hassan. This means something nefarious! I am certain of it despite having no evidence or connections to the sport. Just a gut feeling and a desperate need for attention.

That kinda isn’t the point. Conor mantz and Sifan hassan ran good or great but an absolute blowout of an insane world record in the mens marathon is much bigger then what conor and sifan did.
Lots of people on this thread think it’s clear as day that hes clean just because “you have no evidence”. Well how are we supposed to have evidence when testing isn’t public until someone gets caught?

I’m not saying it clear as day but if you don’t think that it’s a little suspicious that this new marathon runner could be 30 seconds away from the WR at the age of 22 in a debut and break the world record by 40 seconds without feeling pain then I don’t know what else to tell you.

Can they? It took a few years of Kipchoge dominating the marathon, including Olympic gold, before Nike started actively marketing him. And a central part of that marketing was the “breaking 2” attempts, which were largely to market the super shoes. There’d be no point for them to rerun that play with Kiptum. Plus, Nike may have managed to sell Kipchoge to the overweight hobby-jogger as some zen monk like figure, but I doubt there’s any room for a “new Kipchoge” in Kelvin Kiptum. Even if he breaks 2 hours in a real race, millions of people will think “Didn’t that Kipchoge guy already do that?” And there’s no guarantee that Kiptum is the same quality “business partner” as Kipchoge.

For now, Nike’s best move is to continue backing the product they’ve already sold (Kipchoge) for as long as they can.

Nike could just take priority in their relationship with Kipchoge since they have put a lot of time and money into it, they just released a collection branded with his name and handwriting. Most of the Kipchoge branding pushes the idea of him being the greatest marathon runner so Kiptum at 23 coming out and breaking the world record starts to challenge the Kipchoge untouchable narrative.

It is a huge jump to speculate that Nike suspects any doping or that Nike marketing determines who they publicize based on unfounded doping speculations on message boards. The thing is Nike hardly publicizes runners at all they don’t care about running like they used to. How much do they publicize Jakob even?

This is the most likely scenario. Have you heard the guy in interviews? Zero charisma. Kipchoge is the perfect guy to build a brand on. Kelvin is (so far) just fast. That means little to their audience.

Nike's disinterest in a Kipchoge v Kiptum head-to-head makes sense as a sound business decision, I suppose.

There is no point throwing away all the investments into Kipchoge just because Kiptum has run a better time. This is not how things work at all. Kipchoge is still a bigger legend and a bigger sponsor object. If Kiptim sometime overtakes Kipchoge as a better sponsor object they will put more money into him than Kipchoge, but there is no reason to not capitalize on the investetments into Kipchoge for a while longer.

Because Kipchoge is one of their biggest brand ambassadors. Kiptum seems to want to put his head down and work, make money and that's about it. Kipchoge wants to make the world a running world, inspire people, and share his lifestyle.

If it was about drugs, I mean who got more Nike support than Alberto Salazar and from a promotional standpoint Mo Farah or Lance Armstrong. Nike doesn't care.

Such as?

Send me a link, I’d like to buy some.

You answered your own question. Nike has invested a large amount of $$$ on Kipchoge and now some other guy comes along. And yes he may be doping but even if he isn't Nike is suddenly in a difficult PR situation.

It's this more than anything. Nike historically has had NO PROBLEM sponsoring doped up athletes. Kipchoge is a brand and they just want to keep that going more than anything.

Also let’s not forget that Kiptum literally was about to join a Chinese company last year. Kipchoge is in a Nike-funded camp with coaching, facilities etc. all paid for. He will be a lifelong brand ambassador and someone who will show up in his retirement. Kiptum it seems like they matched a lucrative offer from the Chinese company and they will have to pay handsomely to keep him in-house. We’ll see if Kiptum changes his aspirations and relationship with Nike, but for now it is strictly business.

Maybe this has something to do with the sponsorship conflict he had with Nike and that Chinese company?

I laughed at this too.