Country is a key factor in it that's not mentioned. LRC's survey had Rupp's salary estimated at around $750k, while Tola was around $93k. But one's Ethiopian and the other is American - one's a far larger market
He's also not Usain Bolt who's a global superstar.
It's called inclusion. The more Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, are seen participating in any given sport, the more likely they may consider giving it a go themselves. Nothing wrong with that. Women's Soccer World Cup getting ready to blast off, they've included 8 new countries. Do you think girls in Vietnam will be more likely to play some futball going forward?
The girls in Vietnam are struggling to eat every day. I doubt they will be seeking to play some futbol going forward.
Then Nike should raise the pay those young girls get for making Nike's shoes.
The article makes a big deal about how it's rare to sign distance runners of color to endorsement deals in the US.
One runner said
“It’s definitely hard because I feel like there’s so many brands out there that are talking about inclusivity and diversity and this, this, and this, but they don’t really put their money where their mouth is.Oiselle is making a very important statement by standing behind its commitment to embrace racial justice and inclusivity in the sport of running. That’s the difference between other companies and Oiselle—they have a mission and they have values, and they actually act upon those. And you can see that expressed through them taking the time and effort and resources to sponsor women of color and particularly not sprinters.”
What?
I find the whole article to be bizarre. The article basically implies the other brands are racist .
In fact, a huge percentage of the most prominent mid-d and distance runners based in the Us over the last 20 years have been people of color, whether on the women's side of the ledger - Ajee Wilson, Athing Mu, Raevyn Rogers, Des Linden, Tuliamuk, Kipyego, Saina, etc. - or men's side - Centrowitz, Lagat, Nuguse, Chelimo, Meb, Abdi. etc.
What do you think?
And what's funny about the article is it puts all of the photos of the athletes in black and white so you can't really eventell what race they are.
Molly huddle got blasted with hate posts concerning Saucony a few years back. As is Molly had any say in who Saucony sponsors.
I used to hammer Sally and Oiselle about this in their early days. All the responded was they had limited funds, etc. They couldn't find any athletes to sponsor. blah blah blan.
I honestly think this article was put out by Oiselle for marketing purposes. Ironically, Oiselle started out as a brand built on inclusivity for women in sport, but the only women wearing the brand these days are upper middle class white women who dabble in hobby jogging. The first sports bra listed on the site is $62, which is more expensive than Nike. Line up to any big city marathon and watch what brands the fastest women are wearing. You’ll see plenty of Nike, Adidas, Puma, etc, but you won’t see any Oiselle until the 4-5 hour finish times.
The only people who are going to buy an unnecessarily expensive product are the ones who have the extra cash to do so, and a majority of the highest earners in the US are white. If Oiselle wants to be marked as inclusive and progressive, the company has played itself by ironically pushing out POC customers.
You're joking, right? The vast majority of the world's top runners come from one specific region in East Africa. Is running 'racist' towards non Kenyans, Ethiopians, Ugandans, etc?
I think there's a very solid argument that running is racist towards East Africans. E.g., there are just too many good runners (around 50 under 2:05 in the last 6 years) and so they aren't granted equal attention for equal performances.
The article makes a big deal about how it's rare to sign distance runners of color to endorsement deals in the US.
One runner said
“It’s definitely hard because I feel like there’s so many brands out there that are talking about inclusivity and diversity and this, this, and this, but they don’t really put their money where their mouth is.Oiselle is making a very important statement by standing behind its commitment to embrace racial justice and inclusivity in the sport of running. That’s the difference between other companies and Oiselle—they have a mission and they have values, and they actually act upon those. And you can see that expressed through them taking the time and effort and resources to sponsor women of color and particularly not sprinters.”
What?
I find the whole article to be bizarre. The article basically implies the other brands are racist .
In fact, a huge percentage of the most prominent mid-d and distance runners based in the Us over the last 20 years have been people of color, whether on the women's side of the ledger - Ajee Wilson, Athing Mu, Raevyn Rogers, Des Linden, Tuliamuk, Kipyego, Saina, etc. - or men's side - Centrowitz, Lagat, Nuguse, Chelimo, Meb, Abdi. etc.
What do you think?
And what's funny about the article is it puts all of the photos of the athletes in black and white so you can't really eventell what race they are.
So is Oiselle trying to sell more stuff by bringing race into play? Sure seems like it. If you're fast, you're going to get signed...PERIOD! These marketing people and those who run the company are not smart. Using race to leverage sales is racist on its own, and demeaning to "people of color". Again, athletics is one of least racist sports in the world, please don't muddy the waters with racist rhetoric and division.
Lols oiselle is a ghetto brand in the running biz so it fits
Please define "Ghetto".
You ain’t gonna ever see Oiselle on the elite, alpha, best performers. They can only afford c-list domestic runners, the ones typically outside the top 10 in selection races. Nike and Adidas are the gated estates and Central Park penthouses of brands while Oiselle is the section 8 projects. Same for Rabbit and Tracksmith. The rest fall somewhere between. Oiselle was Kara’s safety net when Nike pushed her out of the penthouse and nobody else would touch her.
“Before signing with Oiselle, some brands were trying to force my hand and say ‘why don’t you train with a group?’ [not realizing] that most of those groups have no people that look like me, or any female coaches,” Detra says.
I think this is a stretch from the 800m runner Detra. The 7 African-American of 8 US 800m Women's Finalists don't all train alone. They're on Brooks Beasts, UAC, and whatever the many Adidas athletes have going on. There's also OTC and Atlanta Track Club that have prominent African-American 800m runners.
That being said, it says Detra lives in Boston, and her comments do appear to be a fair criticism of New Balance Boston so if I were a gambler I'd say that's what NB told her.
The thing is Oiselle did have an elite Black field athlete - Tori Franklin. Her contract with them was basic gear and travel for one year. When she broke the American record, she was within that year and went to Oiselle to renegotiate because Nike offered her a ton of money (for field anyway). Way more than Oiselle was willing to give her. She went with Nike and paid back Oiselle what they had given her in that time $3,500. What did Oiselle do? Drag Tori on their website and in the media for going to Nike. Now yes, it can be said that Tori should have honored the contract but why? Oiselle was never going to pay her more than crappy gear and travel. And they expected her to stay - like she owed it to them or something. Sally and the other higher ups there are 100% performative. They also hoped on the Allie Kiefer body positivity BS but trashed her when she left as well. If i were an athlete, I would not trust working with this company.