Jonathan Gault has an extensively researched 3-part series on how one goes pro in track and field. Part I is out now.
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/01/how-to-turn-pro-in-track-field-part-i-finding-an-agent/
Part II: Signing the Contract comes out Thursday.
Part III: Case Studies of Grant Fisher and Morgan McDonaldcomes out Friday.
Step 1 - Get some vaporflys
Step 2 - Get some drugs
Step 3 - Train and take everyone's prize money!
Greg wrote:
Step 1 - Get some vaporflys
Step 2 - Get some drugs
Step 3 - Train and take everyone's prize money!
Lol, Greg’s post is sadly accurate.
It is only mentioned briefly in the article, but the very first step to turning pro in Track & Field is the hardest: you have to achieve some times, marks or victories/near victories on a big enough stage that set you apart from the rest.
Most athletes never achieve real competitive success, so they do not dream of turning pro.
But, other athletes become pro runners by doing other things that set then apart from the rest, even though they are not achieving the running times or results needed to become a traditional pro runner.. These other athletes do other things that make them marketable, even though their current athletic achievements are lacking.
You know who these people are Many pure athletes, and many on these boards, are irked by these people, who seemingly make more money off the sport in other ways than their results warrant. The animosity seems to come from the fact that these people currently promote themselves as elite runners, when they are not
Who are some of these pro runners that are just not that fast now ?
Dean Karnazes
Sage Canaday
Seth Demoor
Alexi Pappas
Jamil Courey
Tony Krupicka
Kara Goucher
Who else?
Let Alberto adopt you, rest will be taken care by nike
Greg wrote:
Step 1 - Get some vaporflys
Step 2 - Get some drugs
Step 3 - Train and take everyone's prize money!
Step 4 - Claim you are genetically superior
Step 5 - Move to America, replace their local runners and represent the USA in championships
Lots of people trolling right now, but thank you for this piece. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next part.
Man you and gault are bozos. This isn't an "investigative" piece.
It's just an article. Stop trying to make it sound more important.
Gault is a hack.
rupp here wrote:
Let Alberto adopt you, rest will be taken care by nike
You’ll have to wait four years for that dream to become reality, lol.
edumacation rulez wrote:
Man you and gault are bozos. This isn't an "investigative" piece.
It's just an article. Stop trying to make it sound more important.
Gault is a hack.
It' a good article. And it seems to be fairly objective, unlike all the "investigative journalists".
...just win baby and be much faster than the OT standards; the sponsors will make their way to your door.
With hard hitting comments likes.
"But the transition from collegiate to professional athlete is far more complicated than trading laundry. "
Really Gault? I think it was just switching uniforms. Duuuuuuhhhh?
Do the letsrun writers think people are this stupid?
Part II is up. One of our favorite excerpts.
JG wrote:
Ideally, an agent should attempt to get maximum value for each of their clients. That does not always happen.
“I had an athlete come up to me after NCAAs,” says a shoe company employee. “He had already signed with Nike. He’s kind of giving me a hard time — ‘How come you didn’t recruit me?’ And I was like, ‘Man, I tried. Your agent never told us and just never approached us once.’ And he was like, ‘Really? I told him to, and he said he did and he said you guys didn’t want to make an offer.’ You just see no effort on the agent’s side to go to another team, or they’ll just push them to Bowerman or NOP. That happens almost every year.”
Why would an agent turn down a potentially larger commission to funnel an athlete to a particular brand? Because no man is an island. Agents represent multiple clients. Nike sponsors, by far, the most athletes in the sport. Which means Nike also, indirectly, contributes the most of any brand to agents’ incomes. Though almost all agencies work with a variety of brands, maintaining a relationship with the Swoosh is crucial.
(John Capriotti, Nike’s vice president for global athletics marketing — the man who controls Nike’s purse strings when it comes to track & field — did not respond to an interview request for this story).
“Not all [agents], but sometimes, if they’re not super ethical, they’ll do what Nike wants them to do just to make sure everything stays kosher,” the shoe company source says. “Because what if they have another athlete that they recruited that year that needs a deal?”
“If you are baiting an athlete to come out of school because an agent has a deal for them, I think that’s a violation,” says Flynn, whose clients include Ajee’ Wilson and Molly Huddle. “Has it happened in the past? Probably. I’m sure it has. In fact, I know it has. But that doesn’t mean it’s happening all the time. Like anything in life, there are abuses.”
Funny... Ray Flynn signed me BEFORE the national championships, causing loss of my eligibility, in order not to lose the deal.
“Has it happened in the past? Probably. I’m sure it has."
Phoebe Wright trashing everyone, as usual.
edumacation rulez wrote:
With hard hitting comments likes.
"But the transition from collegiate to professional athlete is far more complicated than trading laundry. "
Really Gault? I think it was just switching uniforms. Duuuuuuhhhh?
Do the letsrun writers think people are this stupid?
Man, you need help. The article was fine. More than just fine, in fact.
So when the NCAA finally legalizes athletes earning money off their likeness how will this change collegiate track? Will athletes be able to sign a shoe contract for Nike and still compete for their school?
i read it wrote:
Phoebe Wright trashing everyone, as usual.
I think shes right on this one.
Agents are part of the whole system that has prevented track and field athletes from being more prosperous.
Read Symmonds comment, shoe companies only want to work 5 or so agents in these negotiations.
That means shoe companies will only allow these individuals who play by their rules to be apart of this circle. If an agent were truly doing what's best for the athlete at the shoe companies expense the shoe companies will cut them out of the circle pretty quickly. They are not the individuals who are most qualified or knowledgable. Just those who can be the shoe companies pawns and convince the athletes they're acting in their best interest.
i read it wrote:
Phoebe Wright trashing everyone, as usual.
Yeah, I think any runner, with the exception of a very very very few, should be self aware enough to know that IF you are getting paid by a shoe company it is basically charity. Be glad you are getting what you are because they can sign virtually anyone else and do just as well.
YOU need the shoe company more that the shoe company needs YOU.
Nice article. Looking forward to part 3. I'm really curious how many pro runners there actually are. 5? 10? Plus a handful who try it, stick around for a few years, and then disappear? Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it seems like there's only room for a handful of new pros each year.