Lauren Fleshman was the top female collegiate distance runner in American history. Then, as a professional athlete, she transformed herself into an entrepreneur and a forceful advocate for women in sports. When she included a photo of her pregnancy-loosened belly in a blog post a year after trying out for the 2012 Olympics, it drew more attention than any race she had won

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And now, in announcing her retirement at age 34, Fleshman also carries the wrenching distinction of most likely being the best American distance runner never to make an Olympic team, her competitive career repeatedly impaired by injuries that had her on crutches at the wrong four-year intervals. Foot problems in 2004 and 2008. A knee in 2012

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Potrei continuare a copiare-incollare dal NYTimes di fine luglio onore al merito di una bella carriera e un interessante percorso imprenditoriale nato dalle esigenze di donna e di atleta, uno dei miei benchmark dell’estate 2011 fino a farsi pulire le braccia alla partenza della maratona di NYC (unico tentativo sulla distanza) 2 mesi dopo il 7° posto sui 5’000m ai Mondiali di Daegu. Niente di speciale recita la scheda IAAF.

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I’ve felt people now are hungry for more than records and gold medals,” Fleshman said of her decision to retire. “So I took the approach of trying to be your best but not covering up the moments where you feel weak and non-heroic. I decided the process could matter as much as the glory.

In navigating that disorienting ritual undertaken by elite athletes — retirement from a primary professional pursuit in one’s early 30s — Fleshman said last week that she would keep racing, coaching and steering her companies while using her enthusiastic online following to push for reforms in track and field and for the role of women in it …

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Leggetevi il bel pezzo Lindsay Crouse sul NYTimes, come difficilmente se ne trovano in italiano, cominciando dal titolo A Runner’s Career Ends, but Her Mission Goes the Distance … “I wanted to use all the elements that made us America to make us the best in our sport,” she said. “I didn’t want to be like Kenya. We had so many advantages. We had all these great academic institutions and such deep national pride. But we were terrible at the time. I wanted to be the one to change that.

Sponsored by Nike, Fleshman won her first national championship in the 5,000 meters in 2006. But she was troubled by her role in the company; in Nike’s ad campaigns, she noticed, male athletes figured prominently, while the marketing materials directed at women featured fashion models. Restless one night, she emailed Nike’s chief executive, Mark Parker, asking if she could meet with him. Parker invited her to his office the next day.

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This sport tends to reward a single-minded focus, and some of that advocacy to a certain extent probably detracted from her athletic accomplishments,” her husband said. “In a sport where your performance directly dictates your income opportunities, basically the majority of your income comes from prizes or bonus money, and it can be hard to justify any time away from building your athleticism. But she became so much more influential than when she was exclusively winning races.

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I realized you can’t expect people to care just because you’re fast,” she said. “You have to bring them with you.” Keep on following Lauren Fleshman & Picky Bars

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