Deadline reached, and Nick Symmonds still hasn't signed USATF athlete statement of conditions...
Unless either USA Track & Field or Nick Symmonds (left/photo by Paul Merca) changes their mind, the reigning USA champion at 800 meters and member of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts will not toe the line at the IAAF world track & field championships in Beijing, which begins in thirteen days.
Symmonds, who won the silver medal at the 2013 world championships in Moscow two years ago, is refusing to sign a provision requiring team members to wear Team USA apparel at all team functions. He contends that the provision means he cannot wear his Brooks apparel at any time that he’s in public during the trip, even when leaving the team’s hotel to have a cup of coffee, and that the requirement violates his individual contract with Brooks.
Symmonds once again is asking that the federation clearly defines what a “team function” is.
The national team’s kit is produced by Nike, which has the contract with USATF until 2040.
In Ken Goe’s article on oregonlive.com, Symmonds told him, “If they want to renegotiate, I’ll talk. I’ve offered to help them write a better statement of conditions that protects their rights and the athletes’ (rights).”
Goe also quotes an email that USATF chief of public affairs Jill Geer sent him, saying, “We will announce the team (Monday). We will make any statement necessary at that time.”
Clayton Murphy of Akron, who finished fourth at the USA championships, would be the next man up, assuming Symmonds doesn’t go, pending any legal action Symmonds chooses to take.
CHAMBERS RUNS STRONG THIRD LEG TO HELP USA WIN 4x4 AT NACAC
At the final day of competition at the NACAC senior championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, Tacoma native, Marcus Chambers ran a solid third leg to help Team USA win the gold medal in the 4 x 400 meter relay.
After receiving the baton with the lead from second leg Calvin Smith, Chambers, the reigning Pac-12 400 champ from the University of Oregon, was able to open up a gap on the Bahamas’ Wesley Seymour for USA anchor James Harris, who maintained the lead on the final leg.
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