Mary Lou Retton got her endorsement deals after winning the Olympic AA medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games...but Nastia Liukin has been getting deals and sponsors way before hand, actually. Shawn Johnson too.
[quote]
“Standing next to the podium and hearing Olympic champion next to my name was a dream come true,” Liukin said.
Unlike her predecessors she arrived in Beijing with at least eight major sponsors backing her but after striking gold, brand Liukin will probably be worth millions of dollars more.
If Liukin wants to get a glimpse of what could lie in wait for her, the 18-year-old needs to look no further than Retton.
“Every time I leave the 2-mile radius of where I live people are coming up to me,” Retton said. “They still remember me and want my autograph or want a picture. It's great.”
Thanks to her exploits 24 years ago, the 40-year-old still delivers motivational speeches to corporate America and enjoys a multi-million-dollar lifestyle.
[/quote]
Carly Patterson is the other US gymnast to win the AA Olympicsgold, at the 2004 Athens Games, but she hasn't been able to have her singing career take off:
[quote]She struggled to get a music career off the ground in 2005, with her demo tape never seeing the light of day. Knowing that the 2008 Olympics will again throw her into the spotlight, she is having a second stab as a singer.[/quote]
[quote] Both Retton and Patterson quit the sport after they captured gold, but in a recent interview, Liukin said she had no plans of folding her leotard away even if she won the title.
“I don't want to be finished after the Olympic Games. I would love to compete as long as my body will let me,” said Liukin. “A lot of people are in it for the money and sponsors but that's never been my goal.”
[/quote]Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson and Bela Karoyi did an interview on NBC after the women's gymnastics Olympics all-around competition - they both want to continue doing gymnastics and competing, and looking forward to the Worlds coming up in London - the 2012 Olympics are also in London.
This typo is in the media a lot:
[quote]Kerri Strug became an instant heroine in 1996 when she landed her vault on her already damaged ankle to hand the US their first Olympic women's team title at the Atlanta Games.[/quote]It turns out Kerri didn't need to risk injuring her already hurt ankle and vault on it, landing on one leg and saluting the judges hopping, until Bela Karolyi came and carried her off. The US team already had the gold.
Kerr's fame:
[quote] She too was expected to cash in on her overnight fame but it did not take Strug long to realise that her moment in the spotlight was not going to last forever.
“There's maybe one or two women gymnasts that have been able to capitalise on their Olympic experience and make a long-term career out of and that's it,” said Strug, who works as a programme manager for the Department of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice in Washington.
“It's certainly not going to take care of you for the rest of your life.”
[/quote]
Maybe it's about who goes after it. All these years later after competing elite gymnastics and Shannon Miller now has a claritin clear allergy commercial out that has been playing a lot on NBC, and she also has her 360 show...the agent probably has to do with it too:
"Shannon Miller tumbling on beam in 2008 Beijing Olympics claritin allergy commercial"
http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/showthread.php?t=73533
