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The 23-year-old was reportedly supposed to wear a Chinese brand in the English capital but decided otherwise
London Marathon champion Kelvin Kiptum is still basking in the glory of his near-perfect run on Sunday but could be set for a legal battle for allegedly failing to honour a kit deal with Chinese brand Qiaodan.
Kiptum run the second-fastest marathon in history when he clocked 2:01:25 to become the first man to run a sub-2:02:00 in London while also setting a new course record but it is now emerging that there was a conflict in the brand he donned on Sunday.
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06:00 - 24.04.2023
ATHLETICS Kiptum explains why he missed Kipchoge’s world marathon record by 16 seconds
The 23-year-old was in a class of his own in the London Marathon but has revealed that his focus was just on winning the race
According to Spanish publication Corredor, Kiptum signed for Qiaodan for a contract believed to be more than $100,000 (Ksh13.5 million) to dress and equip him, shortly after winning the Valencia Marathon last December, and the Chinese firm was counting on him as an ambassador ahead of the London race.
With the contract signed and the amount paid to Kiptum, the publication claims the brand began to work on promoting the agreement and several representatives even traveled to Kenya to share time with the athlete.
Taking advantage of the trip, the members of the Qiaodan expedition are even reported to have met representatives of Kenyan Athletics to try to make a rapprochement for the future and everything seemed well as Kiptum was using the Chinese brand's material while preparing for the London Marathon.
However, weeks after that first trip and with the aim of accompanying their new athlete to London, Quiaodan's representatives traveled to Kenya again. They shared time with Kiptum, but two days before traveling to London, the athlete allegedly disappeared. He allegedly did not pick up phone calls and no one knew his whereabouts.
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15:00 - 23.04.2023
ATHLETICS Kiptum mints Ksh27m in just two hours after blistering London Marathon win
The Kenyan will be rewarded for winning the race and also harvest a bumper reward for running a sub-2:02.00
The representatives of the Chinese brand gave up and traveled to London to enjoy the marathon only to see the runner come to the pre-race presentation wearing Nike, who sponsored him during the race in Valencia.
He would eventually run Sunday’s race in Nike clothing and shoes to the astonishment of the Chinese firm’s representatives who sought to leverage on his good performance to market their brand.
The publication says Qiaodan intends to take the case to court and resolve the mess in the most satisfactory way without further controversies.
Qiaodan have, however, been embroiled in controversy in the past. Twelve years ago, basketball great Michael Jordan was awarded damages after he sued them over the use of his name in Chinese.
The judge ruled that the kit manufacturer had used the name for products and promotional material without permission and with the intent of misleading customers and the six-time NBA winner, considered the greatest ever to play the game, was paid $46,000 (Ksh6.2 million) as ‘emotional damages.’
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