As we approach the track & field World Championships at the end of the month, the U.S. team headed to Beijing is all but finalized. Athletes earned their spots with a top-three finish at Nationals in June, but August 9 is the cut-off date to achieve qualifying marks if they didn't already have them. A vast majority of the team has known they're going to Worlds for more than a month now, but those that needed to "chase" a mark have until Sunday to get it or they're not going to China (and someone who didn't make the team, but has the standard could possibly go in their place).
Representing your country is a dream. For most, being on Team USA is a lifelong goal and is obviously the highest honor any athlete can achieve. All of these athletes take up track & field with one goal in mind--wearing the red, white and blue at the Olympics. Rio's still a year away, but wearing the USA singlet at the World Championships is the next best thing. There are plenty of athletes who would kill to be on the National Team just once. Apparently Nick Symmonds isn't one of them.
Symmonds is a two-time Olympian who won the silver at the 2013 World Championships in the 800 meters. He won his sixth National Championship in June, earning a place on his fourth consecutive World Championships team. Except Symmonds isn't officially on the team yet and might not be going to Beijing. Why? Because of a dispute between him and USA Track & Field.
After making the National team, athletes go through something called "processing," where they get their USA uniforms, do all the necessary paperwork, etc. They're then sent a congratulatory letter in the mail along with all their USA gear. I've seen a number of pictures on social media of athletes who are so excited to receive their USA gear (especially if it's their first time on a National team). That's when it becomes real that they're actually going to wear the red, white and blue.
Another part of the Team USA processing is signing a document agreeing to wear the provided USA apparel at all "official team functions." If you don't sign it, you can't be on the National team. And this is where Symmonds has a problem. USA Track & Field is sponsored by Nike, which obviously provides all of the official team apparel. Symmonds is sponsored by Brooks, a competing shoe company. (It should be noted here that Symmonds was sponsored by Nike until he was dropped in 2013.) He argues that he'll be going against his Brooks contract by wearing Nike gear (which I highly doubt, seeing as that would prohibit him from wearing a USA jersey) and also wants clarification of what an "official" team function is. He also claims that USA Track & Field told him to leave any non-Nike-branded gear at home, which USATF officials dispute.
There are plenty of athletes on the U.S. team who are sponsored by a different shoe company. Athletes representing Adidas, New Balance, Saucony, Asics, Oiselle and even other Brooks athletes have qualified for Worlds. As far as I can tell, they all have no problem with a seemingly simple request from USATF and Nike to not promote a competing brand while representing the Nike-sponsored U.S. National Team. This isn't new, and Symmonds himself has signed it plenty of times before (which he now claims he never did). Requiring the athletes to sign a document with this non-competition clause doesn't seem that unreasonable. How dare they want you to wear official USA gear while representing the USA!
This sort of stuff happens all the time in all different sports. The best example was probably the 1992 Olympics, where the USA Basketball "Dream Team" draped the American flag over the Reebok logo on their Team USA jackets because Michael Jordan and several of the others were sponsored by Nike. Reebok makes all of the NFL uniforms and the NBA has an exclusive deal with Adidas, while many of the players have personal endorsement contracts with competing companies. Yet that didn't stop LeBron James (Nike) or Stephen Curry (Under Armour) from wearing Adidas uniforms in the NBA Finals.
Just two weeks ago, in fact, two American sprinters were prevented from running on a Team USA relay at a Diamond League meet because they aren't Nike athletes and their contracts say that they're not allowed to wear a different apparel company's uniform except in the World Championships or Olympics. How is that any different? Where was the uproar about that?
Since this story first broke yesterday, USATF has gotten nothing but bad press. That was exactly Symmonds' goal. He's the "victim," while USATF is portrayed as the big, bad bully. As a result, he's drummed up plenty of support for taking a stand against an "unfair" policy. Well, count me among the group that has the contrary opinion.
When you qualify for the World Championships or the Olympics, you're representing yourself, but you're also representing your country. And when the front of the jersey says "USA," that's Exhibit A of "the name on the front is more important than the name on the back." Apparently not to Nick Symmonds. This is the definition of selfishness. He's putting himself above the team (Team USA mind you) and letting the world know. Symmonds has even threatened a lawsuit if they keep him off the team (I'm not sure how he thinks that would make the situation any better moving forward).
For all his talent, I've never been able to embrace Nick Symmonds. Mainly because this isn't the first time he's done something like this. This is just the latest example of Nick Symmonds wanting to hear himself talk. He made a point of letting everyone know that he has to cover up his tattoo (which he sold as advertising) at U.S. Nationals and the Olympics. And in 2013, when Worlds were in Moscow, he spoke out against Russia's anti-gay law and dedicated his medal to all of his gay and lesbian friends. If there's a controversial topic, he's got an opinion on it. (And he's usually the one making the topic controversial in the first place.)
If you don't want to wear the USA singlet, Nick, that's your problem. Because there are plenty of other people who'd be more than willing to take your place. It's an honor to represent your country. Not a right.
No comments:
Post a Comment