Breaking: Kate Grace signs with Nike

Bang Yeet wrote:

Define "awhile ago"? At the UW Preview (her last race before today. Two weeks ago) she was wearing New Balance spikes and a plain black kit.

Read your post for the answer.

Nike Lover wrote:

Oiselle is investing in the right people now, track is dead and of no use to Oiselle because when an elite makes a team they are wearing Nike anyway. If you want to market a brand these days you go the influencer route more bang for your buck. Kate has no presonality or charisma no brand or anything unique to offer just another runner that just posts about running. Real Runners don't buy because so and so is wearing it they do their research and buy what works for them, who here buys Puma because Bolts sponsored by them?. Better to invest in R&D and make great gear, that's what sells and Influencers to persuade the generic population who don't even know there is track outside the Olympic Games.

Track is alive and well especially among young people. What we have to do is give them a reason to compete beyond high school and/or college. I've been told by many former Olympians that we merely use athletes in America. We do not develop them.

"Oh look she won states as an 8th grader!" We ought to be talking about seniors who have put in the time and appear to be headed for a good college career. "Wow he broke the 6th grade 400 record!" Give credit where credit is due.

Why are we having major age group track & field meets at the same time as NXN and Footlocker? Some kids are literally running in meets all year long!!! In between they do sets of 20 X 200 and 12 X 400 to quickly max out their potential and get college scholarships.

Everyone should know that it is the aerobic system that determines the maximum development of any distance runner. However we also know that 8 X 800 will develop them the quickest so that's what we do as coaches.

We need to put in some limits on how many meets a kid can run and shorten seasons. Let kids be kids and play other sports. Track & Field is not fun if you have to run 46.5 to set a record as a freshman in high school.

Sorry Blow Hoes wrote:

This is why she dropped Josh Cox. Just like Sam Chelenga. Nike does not deal with Josh. I told you so.

I tried searching the boards and only found posts about his bad tattoos. What's the deal with Josh Cox as a manager? Over rated runner with bad tattoos sounds like a perfect manager.

Business is business wrote:

just another number wrote:

Nah I think everyone understands the concept of a sellout.....

Congrats to you already winning the dumbest post of the year !

An Olympic Finalist and quite photogenic should hire you as an agent .

You ass

Looks like one person doesn't understand - she chased more money and it's as simple as that. Not right or wrong it's just what she did and what a lot of people would do but not everyone. Oiselle was

there when hardly anyone knew her name and she might still be with them had the spill not happened during Trials.

Brozelle wrote:

This makes the second on-the-rise talent to leave anti-Nike Oiselle for Nike. It seems the best run at their prime for Nike, but start out and then head to pasture with Oiselle.

I'm no fan of Nike, but losing someone like Kate Grace shows Oiselle isn't serious about serious athletes. They want blog fodder and twitter heroes.

Exactly right. Oiselle has the resources to sponsor two or three top athletes at the highest level and the rest get "enough to live on" to some gear and travel. Oiselle is all about participation, not effort, not top performance.

As a former regionally competitive female runner now way past my prime, I can tell you why women support Oiselle. They make great gear- similar to Lulu but without the rich yoga-ish vibe. It's a women run company and they are supportive of all levels of women runners. We enjoy reading about the runners sponsored by Oiselle,and hearing from those runners. No one blames Kate Grace for moving up the food chain. Not many athletes are going to turn down Nike, especially when one's career might not be very long.

kvothe wrote:

Brozelle wrote:

This makes the second on-the-rise talent to leave anti-Nike Oiselle for Nike. It seems the best run at their prime for Nike, but start out and then head to pasture with Oiselle.

I'm no fan of Nike, but losing someone like Kate Grace shows Oiselle isn't serious about serious athletes. They want blog fodder and twitter heroes.

Exactly right. Oiselle has the resources to sponsor two or three top athletes at the highest level and the rest get "enough to live on" to some gear and travel. Oiselle is all about participation, not effort, not top performance.

It's kind of similar to why microbrews don't have Superbowl ads like Budweiser and then saying if they can't get ads we don't need them. Or claiming the reason they don't get ads is because the marketing guy for the microbrews doesn't have enough connections to the networks.

All the Oiselle stuff I have tried has been ill-fitting and not as well made as alternatives. The flock has been brainwashed.

She probably wanted to branch out from companies like White Balance, Brooks, Oiselle and others popular among LRC and the white establishment.

MNFemale wrote:

All the Oiselle stuff I have tried has been ill-fitting and not as well made as alternatives. The flock has been brainwashed.

And the shit gave me a smelly rash .

Not sure why Kate going to Nike bothers me, but it does. Yes, Oiselle and their birds can be sanctimonious, but they mean well. Very well I believe. They're an underdog in the back yard of a behemoth. I thought Kate's family and means enabled her to take a stand for brand principles; it certainly made for an authentic story that benefitted her and Oiselle. For once, someone was above making a monetary decision in exchange for being a true brand ambassador. Alas, no. Everyone has a price. I know, I know - there's always more to the story - I'm well aware. But for once I'd love to see an athlete choose personal loyalties and the chance to be a local legend over a few more dollars. At what point can people say, "I'm blessed. I have more than my fair share. I'm going to do what's right and leave a kickass legacy instead of making a few more bucks." When you have enough money, you realize the things that are important don't have a price tag and can't be bought.

You can still leave a kickass legacy and represent a brand who values performance and supports the best athletes in the world. I support Kate for choosing to do what she needs to do for the best opportunities and the support to do it. Life is too short, and athletics is too short, to stick with a brand who undervalues you. You can still be most ethical yourself, while being properly valued.

Its you who doesn't understand. She represented a brand and did well for them. She gave Oiselle their first Olympian and a lot of great marketing exposure. Oiselle benefitted from Kate just as much as she did from them.

If this was a tech firm and a small startup could only offer $60k salary, would you turn down Google when they offer a $300k salary? The answer is unless there is equity involved, no you would take it. And if you didn't, congrats, you gave yourself a $240k pay cut. Yay, loyalty!

Kate earned a promotion. She's not a sellout.. She busted her ass and got paid. Oiselle wished her well too.

She's the exact definition of a sellout. And yes if people could have a long career and more freedom at the start- up with the ability to possibly make something great some people would choose that vs a 1 year deal at Google where they're more likely to get axed at the end of it.

Funny I thought Kate and her BF were complaining about Nike during Rio for not allowing her to show Oiselle her gratitude. She sure gave up that fight quick.

just do it. wrote:

You can still leave a kickass legacy and represent a brand who values performance and supports the best athletes in the world. I support Kate for choosing to do what she needs to do for the best opportunities and the support to do it. Life is too short, and athletics is too short, to stick with a brand who undervalues you. You can still be most ethical yourself, while being properly valued.

Tough to have a legacy when you're so far back in big time races that you're not even in the shot with the winner. 800 is an impossible event for females right now and it becomes more crowded in the 1500

Bro, she is a pro runner. What did she exactly sell out on?

My serious question to you is do you know the details of each offer? I actually don't on my end. My opinion is that I feel like people are only exposed to a side of the sport without knowing the real story, i.e. Contracts and experience with the company. It's easy to criticize someone's professional decision without all the information. I just don't understand why you are against someone having a better quality of life to essentially do the same job. I give kudos to Kate and think she's a great talent. I also believe she made a decision on what would support her personal and professional goals in the future, she's a smart woman. Good for her.

I'm not for or against her but it's clear you're not impartial Bro.

Google Kate Grace boyfriend (unless you're him) and read his FB post that pops up first and then look up sellout.

She sold out on that flock that supported her emotionally and financially for 5 years while she chased her dreams. BF didn't make it sound like Nike was knocking down her doors then. Nah they just swoop in to reap the benefits of the hard work Kate put in with Oiselle's help.

well maybe one wrote:

Oiselle was

there when hardly anyone knew her name and she might still be with them had the spill not happened during Trials.

What was the spill at trials, and how did that influence her decision?

research please wrote:

I'm not for or against her but it's clear you're not impartial Bro.

Google Kate Grace boyfriend (unless you're him) and read his FB post that pops up first and then look up sellout.

She sold out on that flock that supported her emotionally and financially for 5 years while she chased her dreams. BF didn't make it sound like Nike was knocking down her doors then. Nah they just swoop in to reap the benefits of the hard work Kate put in with Oiselle's help.

Since I just did this

Who cares? She's going from one shoe company to another.