Bolt's $250,000 fee

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Bolt demands $250,000 for Abuja meet

By Nurudeen Obalola

Published: Friday, 10 Apr 2009

World record holder in the 100m and 200m, Usain Bolt, is unlikely to participate in the IAAF Grand Prix holding in Abuja on May 5 following his tight schedule and appearance fee demands.

Bolt, 22, who broke both world records remarkably within 24 hours at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games last August, was billed to headline the event. But race commitments in his native Jamaica three days before the Abuja meet and Qatar three days after the Abuja race mean running in Nigeria is almost impossible.

However, a source close to the organisers of the Grand Prix told our correspondent that they were still negotiating with the superstar to at least hold a clinic for youngsters.

“We would have had to give Bolt $250,000 for him to participate in Abuja because that‘s what he collects as his appearance fee,” the source said on Thursday. “And because it would be difficult for him to squeeze a performance in between races on May 2 in Manchester and May 8 in Doha, Qatar, we want to make him come and talk to our kids and inspire them. For that we’re offering $100,000 and we‘re still negotiating.”
Meanwhile, the organisers have invited other global stars to raise the profile of the event, which is powered by Lagos State but holding in Abuja.

Bolt‘s compatriot and the man whose 100m record he broke, Asafa Powell, Camerounian triple jump sensation, Francoise Mbango, who won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, American sprinter, Tyson Gay, are all expected to be in Abuja for the race. Olusoji Fasuba, the Nigerian-born African record holder in the 100m, is also billed to feature.
The Secretary-General of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Maria Wophill, said a total of 213 athletes would take part in the meet, 144 of them men, with 69 women.

She said, “There are three categories of events, the premium, classic and promotional, and the athletes will compete in 100, 200 and 400m plus the relays. There will also be events in the triple jump, high jump, javelin and shot put among others.

“The winners in the premium events will get $4,000, while classic winners get $2,500 and promotional winners get $2,000.”

The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the meet, Oluyomi Adeyemi-Wilson, who is also a former President of the AFN, said the Grand Prix would help put Nigeria on the world athletics map.

MAYBE BOLT JUST DOESN’T WANT TO GO TO NIGERIA AND HAS UPPED HIS NORMAL ASKING PRICE SO AS TO MAKE IT A PROHIBITIVE OPTION. kk

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That’s what he’s asked and is getting in Toronto. Maybe that is his normal fee or he thinks Toronto is like Nigeria.
BTW, if Nigeria wants to get on the map, why don’t they spend the money developing their own athletes?/ (Same goes for Toronto!!!)

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Naw they would rather waste it on one race.

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shame for bolt… turned into moneyworm :smiley:

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It’s Bolt’s job to get as much as he can. It’s everyone else’s job to figure out if he returns value for that cost.
In Toronto, the same pack of scum-sucking bottom dwellers who made it their life’s ambition to suck on the public tit with an Olympics here have now got hold of public funds to pay Bolt as part of a Pan Am bid, in renewed hopes of hitting the motherload.
This same bunch offered our only track medallist 6,000 to appear in this same meet- exactly what they offered a washed up distance runner whose last major final occurred 17 years ago.
Tells you all you need to know.

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Really! No wonder he gets $250,000.

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Infact he is being underpaid-the top attraction in track and field needs to get more so the other track and field minnows in the sprints benefit too.

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In the big grand prix events - like Berlin with the possibility of selling close to 100,000 seats at 120 ea plus TV rights, it’s perfectly reasonable but in locations that can’t fund their own athletes, it’s a question of priorities.
I flat out guarantee that Bolt’s appearance in Toronto will have ZERO effect on the sponsorship of any Canadian and interest in track will fade once he’s 2000 ft in the air on his way home.
BTW, Bolt’s contract also contains a clause specifying who else is allowed to enter the race. I heard no Tyson Gay but I’m not sure who else.

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BTW, Bolt’s contract also contains a clause specifying who else is allowed to enter the race. I heard no Tyson Gay but I’m not sure who else.

If I were his manager I would insist on sprinters like Gay to run in the same race, and then I would ask for more :slight_smile:

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the whole point of controlling the field is to allow you to run more times in the season. Since you absolutely MUST win these appearances, the only way to extend to number of occasions when you can race its to control the field outside of your peak period. When you are at your peak readiness, then anything goes!

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Ijust cut 'n paste em. If there’s errors of fact, sometimes I’ll pick emup andmakemention,sometime Idon’t. But I hope you’re not having a shot at me on the fact someNigerian reporter made a 24hr call on the span of the two records. In fact the 100 final was August 16 and the 200m final was August 20.