by Larry Eder
Face it, Abby Steiner is sure giving PUMA its money’s worth!
Signed just prior to the World Championships, Abby Steiner came out of her first World Championships with two gold medals, one in an upset in the 4x100m relay and the second in a sizzling 4×400 meter relay.
In the final of the 200 meters, Abby Steiner, at the end of 58 races in 2022, Abby Steiner took fifth in the incredibly tough World Championships. Coming back from those three rounds, Abby then ran the 4x100m final and 4x400m relay final.
And this was after a superlative NCAA indoor and outdoor season, giving her 54 races BEFORE her rounds in the 200 meter.s at the World Outdoor Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 15-24, 2022.
In our interview with Abby Steiner at the World Championships, Abby was poised and thoughtful, giving this writer great answers and endearing herself to the global fans after becoming one of the most famous athletes in NCAA Outdoor Track & Field.
Abby knows when to speak and when to run.
Her Twitter rebuttal to the media and fans who hypothesized about her salary from PUMA was well-written and the most popular piece followed on Twitter for RunBlogRun for the month of June (plus the first big hit on our newly renovated website, RunBlogRun).
And I repost this comment from alert reader Rick Iovine, who noted of Abby Steiner and her sponsorship with PUMA:
“In a matter of a few weeks, the Puma brand has been mentioned more often than Nike. When you consider the connection between Hayward Field and Nike, that is quite an accomplishment. It is all because of Abby Steiner.”
PUMA has focused its brand marketing on picking key global athletes that resonate in the world of sport and are comfortable in giving access to some of their personalities via social media. Abby Steiner knows when to comment and when to ignore much of the silliness that comes with the social media culture.
Abby Steiner is no one-hit-wonder. Her development as a world-class sprinter is due to dedication, hard work, the support of her family and team, and her desire to excel.
One telling sign that PUMA sees her as long-term was the last-minute addition of Bjørn Gulden in our RBR interview with Abby Steiner. Bjørn is pretty relaxed and told RBR that, “You know, Larry, Abby is the future of sports.”
We will see more from this new elite athlete. We can not wait to see her race in 2023!
