Courtesy of Puma
The majority of America’s Olympic hopefuls belong to pro training groups, in which small numbers of athletes practice together in places around the country, from Boston to Rochester Hills, Michigan, to Flagstaff, Arizona, to Portland, Oregon. These teams are often funded by a single sponsor, a shoe company trying to build visibility for its products through athletic performances.
The biggest of these teams are all coached by men. So across the insular world of elite running, coaches and athletes noticed when two recent plum jobs went once again to male coaches. For some, it rankled. Others shrugged it off as the same old, same old: It’s all about connections, who you know.