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Rio Olympics 2016: The athletes and brands to watch

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The games may be over, but the most decorated Olympians are now locked in a new competition - to win the big-name sponsorship deals which will pay the bills until Tokyo 2020. The UK doesn’t actually reward winners for their medals, and whilst the US pays $25,000 per gold medal won, that’s still not enough for most Olympians to live off as they aim to fund complex training plans over the next four years. There were a lot of outstanding victories from across the continents, so here's a snapshot of new partnerships and ones to watch over the coming months. 

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Simone Biles, reportedly rocked up to the Olympics with brand endorsements already worth over $2 million. These included big name brands like Procter & Gamble’s Tide, United Airlines, Hershey’s, Nike and Core Power. And recently, Digiday reported how the American gymnast looks likely to win big post Rio, with a new partnership with Kellogg's Special K already under her belt. Experts have estimated that she’s likely to take home another $3 million per year after her Rio medal sweep.

Michael Phelps, now the most decorated Olympian of all time, is unsurprisingly also one of the richest with brand partnerships estimated to be worth over $20 million. His coming endorsement contracts look likely to include Under Armour, Omega, Aqua Sphere and Master Spas amongst others.

The ever marketable, Usain Bolt, is said to have signed a deal worth $10 million annually, to stay with Puma throughout the 2016 Olympics and beyond. After that, Reuters reported on how he’d been offered $4 million per year to stay on as brand ambassador should he retire. Combined with Virgin Media and Hublot contracts, the successful sprinter won’t be short on money for a while.

Tennis stars are also ruling the sponsorship charts. Serena Williams may have crashed out of the games in a surprising third round defeat, but that hasn’t prevented the US tennis star featuring in her very own video game ad in partnership with Gatorade this month. You’ll find Serena Match Point inside ESPN’s Discover channel on Snapchat, as a video advert. Users can simply tap the advert to start a game with Williams, or visit SerenaMatchPoint.com to play. As well as Gatorade, Williams also holds celebrity endorsement contracts with Nike, Beats, Wilson, Delta Air Lines and IBM. Interestingly, after Maria Sharapova’s failed drug tests at the start of 2016, it’s estimated that Williams will soon take her place as the highest paid female athlete in the world. All this despite a lackluster Olympic performance.

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Doing it for the men in tennis deals is Rafael Nadal. Just prior to Rio 2016 his combined earnings from sponsorship deals was said to be close to $30 million. These included endorsements for Nike, Kia and Babolat. Kia then extended his contract for a further five years and although Babolat’s contract is up for renewal next year, after winning gold in Rio, we doubt the Spanish player will have much to worry about.

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Other names to watch after thier Rio performances include Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui who won a bronze medal but struck solid gold with millions of fans and became an online sensation with her quirky post-race interviews and ever changing facial expressions. The British Paralympian, Richard Whitehead MBE, already held sponsorship with BP, but he's also drawn attention from Virgin Media after his Rio performance. Singapore's Joseph Schooling denied Phelps a fourth successive gold in the mens swimming event to win in a Games record of 50.39 seconds. Perhaps he'll be picking up some of Ryan Lochte's old contracts (see below). And finally, British gymnast Max Whitlock made history and newspaper headlines, when he became the first Brit to win a gymnastics gold medal in the history of the Olympics. Then he went one better and won a second gold. After claiming valuable column inches, we predict big name sponsorship deals are right around the corner for him.

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A note as well on one person losing out after Rio. Poor Ryan Lochte, who allegedly vandalised a petrol station bathroom and shouted at police during his time in Rio, is reported to be feeling the pain in his wallet post-incident. Speedo dropped him from their lucrative partnership deal on August 22nd, prompting Ralph Lauren, Syneron-Candela and Airweave to follow suit. It will likely be near impossible for the American swimmer to secure any other sponsorship deals over the coming months.

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We’re expecting bigger and better athlete and brand partnerships in the months to come. Stay tuned here at Creativepool.

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