Damian Hall Signs With NNormal

This sponsorship deal is worth mentioning for two things:

1. Damian is great with words, and he wrote a blog post about this decisions and hesitations.
2. Damian has made a name for himself as being outspoken about the threats and realities of climate change and our sport’s hand in it. Having a corporate sponsor that’s trying to sell shoes, clearly is a conflict he’s wrestling with.

Here are the highlights from his post:

… I believe there has to be room in the middle for athletes who want to be the best they can be but also care about our climate and ecological emergency.

He chooses the sponsorship as a way to get support to continue his career as professional athlete, while acknowledging the tension.

One of the things he addresses I find super important to highlight is the fact the notion of the “personal carbon footprint” was something created by “big oil” to make us individuals feel guilty, and responsible for fixing the issue of climate change, instead like, big business, or billionaires.

I don’t want to be part of the overconsumption machine. But I am happy to promote a brand doing the right things (while knowing they’re a business). I think there is a key difference between the two. I’m now supported by NNormal.

Damian is a great fits at NNormal and it will be fascinating to see how they will craft a message around his values and theirs. This comes right at a time when I had sort of thought that NNormal might be at a crossroads, having reached everyone who loves Kilian, the environment, and new shoes they need new buyers to continue growing and I am curious on where they will find them.

Lastly:

Most importantly of all, the first N stands for “No”. But we can just say Normal.

I did not know this.