Nia Akins has officially left the Brooks Beasts...
As a follow up to our post regarding Seattle resident Nia Akins (Paul Merca photo) and her status with the Brooks Beasts, the Seattle based athletic shoe company, which sponsors the team, just released a statement within the hour (August 22nd) confirming the rumors.
"At Brooks we place a high value on listening to our athletes and supporting them in the best way possible. Nia made the decision to step away from being a member of the Brooks Beasts Track Club. We are proud that Nia began her professional career with Brooks in 2020, and since then became the reigning U.S. 800m indoor & outdoor national champion and represented Team USA and Brooks on the Olympic stage. We wish her continued success."
What makes the departure unusual is that most contracts with athletic shoe companies are valid until the end of the calendar year, unless there are mitigating circumstances that force either party to end it early. The most recent case of an athlete and/or a company terminating a contract is when Fred Kerley and Asics parted ways in June before the US Olympic Trials.
She competed in Thursday night's Athletissima Lausanne meeting, the eleventh stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour, where she finished tenth in 2:00.00.
Akins, who wore a generic black kit with covered logos (screenshot courtesy Wanda Diamond League), took the lead at the 400 meter mark with Olympic 800m bronze medalist Mary Moraa of Kenya hot on her heels, and held it through 600 meters before fading in the final straight.
Moraa won the race in 1:57.91, with Olympic 1500 meter bronze medalist Georgia Bell of Great Britain second in 1:58.53, and Jemma Reekie of Great Britain third in 1:58.73.
Akins was the only athlete with Washington ties entered in the meet.
NATHAN GREEN & CHLOE FOERSTER ON BIG TEN'S PRE-SEASON RUNNERS TO WATCH...
With the 2024 collegiate cross country season starting up around the country next weekend, the Big Ten Conference announced its pre-season watch list, comprised of fifteen men and eighteen women.
Washington's Nathan Green and Chloe Foerster (Paul Merca photo) were named to the Big Ten's preseason list.
Green finished third at the Pac-12 championships last year, while Foerster was seventh at last year's Pac-12.
NOTE: The Wanda Diamond League, Athletissima Lausanne and Big Ten Conference contributed to this report.
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