There is a sense of privilege and entitlement that comes with being successful in any sport that hasn’t always been there, and certainly not to the extent that we often see now.
When I was still competing most elite athletes I knew went out and felt the need to earn their rewards, rather than take any of them for granted. Men and women, and including myself.
I was reminded of this last week when reading and listening to American 800m runner Alysia Montaño voice her complaints about the treatment of female athletes by certain shoe companies whenever the athlete decides to take time out to have a baby.
This is not the responsibility of the shoe company, but the decision of the athlete. It may result in a lack of earnings due to inability to race at a high level, only this is not unusual across many industries where you are paid for results.
Particularly when like most professional athletes, you are essentially self-employed, and generally contracted to various companies based on your status as an athlete and ability to deliver results that deliver financial benefits.
In 1998 I signed my first shoe contract with Nike. This was a couple of years after it looked like my running career was heading in the wrong direction. My manager negotiated a contract whereby if I delivered results I would be paid, and with that could get myself back up to the level of payment I had as a world champion in 1995.
I was happy to receive shoes and gear, and if I delivered at the World Cross Country Championships in 1998, I would be back on a substantial contract. I didn’t want to be paid, and then expected to meet any tangible expectations, similar to when an athlete is pregnant.
In 1999, while pregnant with my first daughter Ciara, I continued to train and remain fit. Not because of any expectations or clauses in my Nike contract, but because I wanted to, and felt this was best thing for me.
So I told Nike that I would be having a baby in 1999 but I had every intention of returning in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics, late that September. As a contracted athlete, Nike had every right to wave me goodbye and I would have to start from scratch again after Ciara was born.
When Ciara was born in July 1999, the Sydney Olympics were still 14 months away, so there was plenty time to return to full training and racing
As it turned out, Nike continued to support me with gear and equipment and promised that once I was back racing my shoe contract would resume as normal. This seemed reasonable and very acceptable to me. I was not directly employed by Nike, and I was unable to fulfil my role as an elite athlete competing in races for eight months.
There was no expectation on performance, no deadline when I had to return to competition to resume my contract. I could take my time and work out the best plan to get me back to running by the end of 1999, racing and preparing for the Sydney Olympics for the following year.
That’s now 20 years ago, and as much as women had children and returned to competition before me, it wasn’t a much talked about subject. There was very little information available or athletes to take inspiration from.
The only athlete that I could relate to at the time was Scottish distance runner Liz McColgan, who had a baby in November 1990 and then returned to the World Cross Country Championships just four months later, winning a bronze medal. Even more importantly, looking at my own Olympic timeline, Liz won the World Championships 10,000m on the track in Tokyo less than a year after her daughter Eilish was born.
When Ciara was born in July 1999, the Sydney Olympics were still 14 months away, so there was plenty time to return to full training and racing.
The interesting thing in these early days was the fact that I was more interested in the ability to return to full fitness, and fulfil the ambition to return for my third Olympics.
It's a credit to Nike that they are now entertaining the option to financially support female athletes who decide to take time out to have a child
Staying in the sport and competing was the most important thing, as it has always been in my athletics career. Getting paid to do something I love doing has always been a privilege and never an entitlement.
It can all come down to how you view your sport: first and foremost you must love what you are doing and know in your heart that you would continue to compete and train as long as it is your passion and desire.
I have always believed if you lead from your heart then the rewards will come. Once that loyalty to the sport is there, it’s easier to earn support and respect, from fans of the sport as well as contractual sponsors.
That understanding that it’s always a privilege to be paid to perform, and do what you love to do, is important. If more athletes focused on this, rather than, say, looking for what they can get alongside the pure results, then I think they would lead more fulfilled careers on the athletics track.
It’s a credit to Nike that they are now entertaining the option to financially support female athletes who decide to take time out to have a child, partly on the back of the Montaño story. Just like every athlete that signs a shoe contract, the terms and conditions will vary.
So often the contracts that the athlete signs are decided on negotiating tables that their appointed agent works out with the athlete sponsors and shoe companies. It’s not just the shoe companies that are all to blame, but the lack of including a pregnancy clause by the agents in an athlete’s contract.
There is much greater evidence now that female athletes in all sports can take time to have a baby and return to their sport, often competing at a higher level than they had previously. So why would any company not want to negotiate such a clause rather than lose the athlete to another company when they have supported them all the way to this point?
There needs to be give and take on both sides, and an appreciation of support given and results delivered within a reasonable time period.
Whenever an athlete's circumstances change, such as when a female athlete decides to have a baby, they must be willing to compromise
Athletes are often given free rein to prepare themselves each year. They are not required to turn up each day, but can set their own training routine and venue, where and when it suits them.
It is often an envied lifestyle to be financially supported as a professional athlete. When an athlete achieves this status they shouldn’t easily forget it is a privilege to be paid as an athlete. Most athletes never actually reach this level, and they put in just as many hours on the training track.
Whenever an athlete’s circumstances change, such as when a female athlete decides to have a baby, they must be willing to compromise, to accept the support on a lesser level knowing with the option to return after a pause in full contract they are not being cast aside. It’s more likely they are being given the freedom to find their personal path back to competition without any timelines or expectations.
If you love what you do, and see more success down the track, you will make it happen. No contract or payment will change that.
