It Takes Grit! With all the politics blanketing our TVs lately, it’s been easy to forget the hundreds of others truly running a race — the race to the top of the sports world in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio. DICK’S Sporting Goods realizes the sacrifice made by the Team USA Contenders — the athletes we should be looking up to — as they sacrifice day after day to perfect a move, improve a time by a split second, and sweat through the pain to reach the top, whatever their chosen event.
The Contenders, Grit Before Gold is DICK’S Sporting Goods’ program to help these athletes, not only those who make it to Team USA, but the thousands of others who sacrifice everything just for the opportunity to compete. Their employee athletes know the Olympic and Paralympic podiums are the pinnacle to their efforts — exceptional achievements to get the win, watch the flag go up, hear the national anthem play, and feel the weight of a shiny medal hanging from their neck.
VIDEO: The Contenders
The athletes featured in the commercial are a portion of DICK’S roster of nearly 200 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Contenders across 35 sports who currently work at 89 stores in 32 states. “Each and every one of these athletes is truly an inspiration and living proof of how sports make people better,” said Lauren Hobart, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, DICK’S Sporting Goods. “Telling their stories and providing an opportunity for our customers to get incredible advice and insight from them in our stores is something we’re proud to do.”
DICK’S is proud to enable them to follow those dreams through jobs that provide income and flexible schedules, quality sports equipment and team benefits to their hundreds of employees hoping to be a part of Team USA. So do a little mental training yourself and get familiar with these contenders. Their profiles are at dicks.com/thecontenders. With some background on the athletes, you can experience the games with a deeper understanding and cheer on your favorites as they represent the red, white and blue in Brazil this summer. USA! USA! USA!
