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by Brendan Dunne
Olympic runner Nick Symmonds has been dropped from the USATF team and, as a result, won't be participating in this month's World Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Beijing.
The Oregonian reports that Symmonds was dropped from the team after failing to sign a "statement of conditions" provided by USATF that required participating athletes to wear Nike apparel at all team functions. Symmonds, who is signed to Seattle-based sneaker company Brooks, took umbrage with this requirement.
Symmonds says forcing athletes to wear Nike could violate their individual contracts with other sportswear companies, something he isn't willing to do. He's also complained about the contract's wording regarding wearing team apparel at "team functions," a term that he believes is too vague.
Beyond Nike's monopoly on the apparel for USATF team members, Symmonds is also upset with how little money USATF athletes make. According to ESPN, Symmonds has cited a study by Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist that contends that elite athletes in track and field make far less than those in other sports. The report claims athletes earn around eight percent of the USATF's annual revenue, where athletes in other sports earn at least 50 percent of a league's revenue.
Symmonds was previously a Nike athlete, having been with the brand for seven years before switching to Brooks in January, 2014.
Remember that Nike has recently complained via campaigns about its sneakers being banned from certain sporting events.
