Campaign calls for fair compensation of Olympic athletes
Two-time Olympic runner Nick Symmonds has launched a movement campaigning for fair sponsorship rights for Olympic athletes at Rio 2016.
The #OwnYourSkin movement draws attention to the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) makes huge revenues from the advertisement contracts during the Olympics, none of which are paid directly to the athletes competing at the Games.
On July 1-10, at the Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, athletes who support the movement will wear black tape on their arms as a sign of protest.
Nick Symmonds, middle-distance track athlete, two-time Olympian for Team USA – Track and Field, is behind the campaign and hopes that the pieces of tape will raise questions that can contribute to a change in the rules and that the athletes will be able to have personal agreements with sponsors and display ads on their clothes during competitions.
According to Endurance Sportwire webpage, IOC’s restrictive Rule 40 prohibits athletes to support their training and livelihood by displaying individual sponsorship on their body or apparel. A recent study reveals that more than 50 percent of USATF (USA Track & Field) athletes live below the poverty line.
In May, the CNN announced that T-Mobile CEO John Legere won an eBay auction for the right to display an ad on Nick Symmond’s right shoulder. Nick Symmonds started to collaborate with theHanson Dodge Creative (HDC) marketing agency in 2012 when it won the eBay auction to display advertisement on Symmonds’ shoulder for $11,100.
During the Olympics in London, Simmonds was planning to wear the HDC logo, but due to restrictive sponsorship rules he had to cover the logo with a piece of tape. This caught the attention of media outlets around the world and provoked a big debate around athlete’s rights.
According to The Washington Post, the USATF in 2011 allowed athletes to wear their own advertisements during non-USOC and non-IOC events. Before that, the USATF had strict advertising guidelines for all of its events.
Last August, Symmonds clashed with the USATF over the conditions in the introductory letter for the team heading to the 2015 World Championships. The letter noted that the athletes were required to wear Nike Team USA gear “at all team functions throughout the trip, including at the athlete hotel, during training, press conferences, competitions and award ceremonies”, writes The Washington Post. The athlete refused to sign the Statement of Conditions by USATF and therefore, he was not allowed to compete in the 2015 championships.
According to the #OwnYourSkin campaign website, a number of athletes have already pledged support to the movement by agreeing to wear the black tape at the trials and spread the news on social media.
More about the movement on own-your-skin.com, Twitter @ownyourskin2016.