August 26, 2009
At a press conference this morning at Romanian Athletics Federation (F.R.A.) headquarters in Bucharest, Boulder Wave and the Romanian federation announced the launch of a new “adidas Next-Generation Development Project” for Romanian athletes. The new project will support and outfit a select group of up-and-coming Romanian junior athletes, and scout and develop new distance running talent in Romania. The program will focus on athletes with potential in events from 3,000m to the marathon, with a target of developing Romania’s next generation of world-class athletes.
Despite the country’s small size, Romania has long produced a solid core of world-class athletes in the half-marathon and marathon. Since the mid-1990’s, Anuta Catuna, Lidia Simon, and Constantina Dita have helped raise the Romanian flag at awards ceremonies in stadiums around the world. The current generation of road racing athletes, including Dita, Simon, Nuta Olaru, Adrian Pirtea, and Luminita Talpos have been wonderful ambassadors for their country, not only competing at the highest levels, but bringing plenty of “personality” when they race in the world’s top events.
The basic members of the program when fully gathered will include 10 athletes, a head coach, and a project manager. All athletes and staff will be outfitted in adidas gear and shoes. Athletes will have their housing meals, massage and all training expenses covered by the program. In recognition of the need for athletes to be able to communicate with the world’s media, English-language lessons will be an integral part of the program for all athletes, even for the youngest juniors.
At today’s press conference, Sorin Matei, the president of the F.R.A., commented: “It is very good for the Romanian federation and for our young people to start a new way for long-distance and for special development. We are very happy to be together with adidas and Brendan Reilly in this project. It might not be easy to start in this new direction, but I am confident we will have a success with it.”
From Spencer Nel, the Head of Global Sports Marketing: Running/Track & Field at adidas: “Obviously Romania has a tremendous long-distance history in athletics. We think this is an excellent chance to support the future internationals of Romania with a long-term development program. I like many of the features being incorporated here, and it fits in nicely with our continued sponsorship of the Romanian Federation.”
From Brendan Reilly: “We have been discussing this project with adidas for a couple of years, stemming from a chat I had with Spencer Nel at the ‘real Berlin Marathon. I am very happy we are now launching the program. As with all athlete development, it will take time to bring these new athletes up to the highest levels, but everybody involved has the experience and knowledge to make this long-term approach a success. The project is based somewhat on what other agents have done in Kenya and Ethiopia, but it is also based on my own 16 years’ experience with Japan’s corporate-sponsored teams.”
The Boulder Wave sports agency is based in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Among the athletes represented by the firm is Japan’s Yoshimi Ozaki, who won the silver medal in Sunday’s IAAF World Championships women’s marathon in Berlin. Yoshimi runs in adidas gear for Japan’s Daiichi Life Insurance team, and won her medal racing in a pair of adidas Adizero shoes. Her silver was the 10th women’s marathon medal in the past 11 World Championships and Olympic Games won by an athlete working with Boulder Wave.
For further information or inquiries, please contact Brendan Reilly at Boulder Wave, Inc., +1-303-554-0597 (Office), +1-720-280-2689 (Mobile), E-Mail boulderwave@comcast.net, or visit the website, www.boulderwave.com
Accompanying Photo: Brendan Reilly, president of Boulder Wave (l), and Sorin Matei President of the Romanian Athletics Federation (r), respond to questions at today’s press conference. (Photo Credit: Boulder Wave, Inc.)
