Photo courtesy: ON
Three days after Solveig Løvseth became IRONMAN World Champion, ON Running announced their new sponsorship agreement with the 26 year-old Norwegian. The deal was in the making long before Kona, and it came with a deadline to sign before the race. Running to take the victory after passing Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb, Løvseth did so wearing ON Running shoes–but she had left the contract blank.
“ I’m a person that needs some time making decisions, especially if I feel it is quite a big decision,” Løvseth says. “I need to feel a hundred percent certain on the brand before I sign and just certain that it’s the right fit for me.”
“I had used the shoes for a while and really liked them,” she says, explaining how she tested multiple brands as she switched into long course racing.
“They actually gave me a good offer and I had a deadline to sign it sometime during race week, but at that point I just wanted to focus on the race,” she says. “I’m really aware that I can use a lot of energy just trying to make those decisions. I knew that I really liked shoes, but I had never actually used them in a race before.”
Come race day, Løvseth chose to wear the ON Cloudboom Strike shoes, freely admitting she probably lost money making that decision.
“But it has never really been about the money for me anyways,” she says. “I was just thinking, do what feels right, just focus on the race, and race in the shoes you want.”
However, as soon as she, or anyone else becomes IRONMAN World Champion, it does all become about the money. As her manager Adam Acworth says: “Once you become a world champion, it’s a completely different game.”
Welcome to The Game
Løvseth on the run at the IRONMAN World Championship. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
It was Acworth (who also represents Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden through his company Santara Group) that reassured Løvseth before Kona it was okay not to sign the ON contract.
“ I’ve been doing this for 20 years, done it a million times before,” Acworth says simply, referencing his athletes outside of triathlon as well. “I know exactly what the values are, I know exactly what the structure is, and I can guide her through that process.”
That process is slightly different for each athlete, especially for the young and newly crowned world champion.
“There have been a few brands who she’s really had to get to know and trust that they are going to provide a great service and a great product,” Acworth says. “Where I sit there, I’ve worked with that brand for years and I know they’re an amazing bunch of people and I know their product’s amazing, and I know they’re going to provide great service; but, she doesn’t have any of that experience so she has to work through the process. With her, we’ve been very slow and steady, partnering up with specific brands.”
He references the ON deal as well as her agreements with Felt (who she has been with since 2021 and renewed this past summer) and Precision Hydration.
“She loves Felt,” Acworth emphasizes. “She loves ON. She loves the guys at Precision Hydration.”
”We had three other nutrition offers on the table,” he continues. “Once we had sorted out all the financials for her, I think nutrition is similar to shoes, you can’t fake it. Precision is a partner of the Norwegian Federation, so she has already used the product for a long time. She will pop up with some new partners, for sure, and there are a couple of changes there, but all around great products, great relationships and great brand fit.”
The Right Players
Finding a great brand-athlete fit is a big part of the equation, but the financials can’t be overlooked. An athlete’s value skyrockets with a world title. It’s not just the $125,000 pay cheque that comes with the win in Kona, but the value the title carries afterward, immediately and for the rest of their career. For brands, there are two approaches: partner before at a lower price and hope for big performances and the big marketing payoffs, or reduce the risk of never seeing a big performance and partner after for a higher price. Acworth engages with both approaches, but always considers the athlete. Casper Stornes, he offers as an example, who had success over a long period before becoming IRONMAN World Champion, is different compared to someone who burst on the scene like Løvseth.
“In the case of Solveig, as was the case with Gustav, we had a double-kicker or even a triple-kicker where you are getting your bonus from the race, a rollover from that into your subsequent years, and then you’re getting an increase in your flat retainer because you’re now a world champion,” Acworth says. “So there’s that side for people who want to get in in advance, but understand there’s a big uplift. Then there is the other side where you’re already a world champion and you’re going out to all of the brands, identifying all of the opportunities, having conversations and going from there.”
Either way, Acworth adds, “Regardless of how good you were before, once you become a world champion, it’s a different game. Therefore, from a brand perspective, they have to understand that.”
ON did understand that which is why Løvseth’s contract originally came with a ticking clock.
Photo courtesy: ON
“ON were nicely putting a lot of pressure on us to sign with a lot of money, and there were big bonuses, big rollovers, and all sorts of things in it, but Solveig and I had a chat on the Wednesday before Kona, and, well, if you’ve got to Wednesday and you’re still not sure, why on earth would you sign it?” Acworth says, emphasizing it’s not always an easy decision for an athlete.
“When you then get to a point where you have sponsors throwing hundreds of thousands at you and your life from a financial standpoint has completely changed–like it’s completely changed where the idea of buying a house was non-existent to now I could buy a house outright and buy cash if I wanted– that comes with ‘What is going on?’’ and ‘I hope I’m making the right decision.’”
Acworth was in contact with ON throughout the world championship, even during the race. ON relayed they still wanted a deal even though the deadline had passed but, even if she won, it would remain unchanged. Hours after the race, Løvseth signed the unaltered contract. She might have finally felt 100% comfortable with the shoes and the company but perhaps not fully realizing the changes that lay ahead as the new world champion.
What Comes with Winning
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
“ I sort of expected to have a lot of messages,” Løvseth shares. “When I won national championships for the first time many years ago, I thought I got a lot of messages back then. So, I was thinking, it’s definitely gonna be like a lot now.”
Immediately after the race, Løvseth didn’t have her phone for hours, which was dead in her streetwear bag anyways. As she stood on the podium and went through doping control, she actually valued being somewhat unreachable.
“It was sort of nice in a way, just to have that time,” she says. “We were sort of forced to be in one place [in doping control] so you can’t really do anything else except just sit there and wait. But I think already at that point, the plan for that day and the next day was already planned out for me.”
Since her boyfriend had his phone, all the plans and messages were channelled through him. But, she admits: “Both of us were really unprepared.” Unable to return to their accommodation 40 minutes away with all her new commitments, the two sorted out a hotel room, got a change of clothes, toothbrushes, and, finally, borrowed a phone charger from a restaurant.
The onslaught of media and attention started then and continued well after she left Hawaii, making it even harder to recover, but there was also an unexpected upside.
“Of course, you want to speak to people and be available, but it definitely takes a lot out of you,” she says, adding that she also had to recover from The IRONMAN itself.
“ Now, talking so much about the race with different people, it makes it easier for me to process because right after, it just felt really surreal to me. It was actually hard to believe. Now it’s actually easier to believe and feel proud about it.”
“It’s obviously not how you want to win a race with the people in front of you DNFing,” she says, referencing Knibb sitting on the ground with only a few kilometers to go and Charles-Barclay’s overheating.
“Right after, it didn’t really feel like my performance was that good,” she says assuredly. “My run wasn’t crazy or my swim wasn’t crazy or even my bike wasn’t crazy. But now I have reflected more, everyone that was on the start line, they were actually fit and they were in good shape so, sort of, everyone had the same opportunity and I was actually able to play my cards just right, handle the conditions good enough, and actually win it. I’m very proud of it.”
Photo courtesy: ON
The Long Play
Løvseth’s experience with the media, both the overwhelm and the introspection, is just the beginning and something Acworth takes into his care.
“She’s new, she’s still building her social following, and she’s not, let’s say, a Kristian who’s had sponsors for five plus years at a really high level,” he says. “He’s very used to being thrust in front of a camera. He’s very used to telling and creating different engaging content. Solveig is working into that so the last thing I’m certainly going to do is sign her with 10 to 15 brands as opposed to let’s sign six to eight great partners who are fully invested in you, who are paying you financially really well and who you love.”
His goal for Løvseth is to build a strong, stable sponsorship base. The next step, where the likes of Iden and Blummenfelt are, is building multiple revenue streams with broader partners so it’s not just “turning up to races for prize money or sponsorship money.” But for now, for Løvseth, it’s about enjoying the big pay off from The Big Island–that, and getting back to the actual business of winning which, whether you’re seasoned or freshly crowned, still needs a lot of swim, bike and run.