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Dexter Lee goes pro
Lee goes pro
• Junior track star signs with Reebok;
• Curtails high school career
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Reebok Grand Prix meeting held at the Icahn Stadium.
Lee, who won the Class One 100m event at Boys’ Champs in early April, has signed a long-term agreement with Reebok and has therefore given up the
right to defend that title, but said he has no regrets about his decision.
“No, I have no regrets about giving up high school track and field and a chance to repeat as Class One 100m champion,” he told the Observer.
Lee, who also won the 100m in Classes Two and Three, as well as at the Under-17 level at CARIFTA Games, says he is ready to move on. “I am definitely
MANHATTAN, New York — Double IAAF world 100m champion Dexter Lee of Herbert Morrison Technical has done what some deemed inevitable, embracing a contractual relationship with Reebok, which will see him as one of the future standardbearers for the brand.
Surrounded by Claude Bryan, the CEO of On Track Management, who will be his agent; Juanita Bryan, also of On Track Management; his long-time high school coach, Claude Grant; and Todd Klein, Director of Global Athletics & Federations at Reebok, who the young athlete will sign with, Lee made the announcement in an exclusive interview with the Observer on Sunday at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan.
All five were in the US city for the ready to move on. It would be nice to win (at Champs) again, but this is a bigger opportunity, so I just have to go forward and take it.”
Lee, who joins the likes of triple Olympic champion and double world record holder Usain Bolt and National Junior record holder in the 100m, Yohan Blake, to go professional right out of high school, will not forego further schooling, however, as he says he will enrol in school in the USA in September and will pursue a business degree.
While not going into specifics about the dollar value of the contract, Bryan said it would reflect his status as a twotime world champion and would include college tuition as well as accommodation, among other perks.
Bryan, who is also the agent for twotime Olympic Games 200m champion and IAAF World Championships 100m champion Veronica Campbell Brown, said that Lee would not sever ties with coach Grant anytime soon.
Grant will continue to prepare Lee for the National Junior Trials to be held at the GC Foster College June 13-14, said Bryan, after which Lee will commence “his transition” to the United States.
Bryan did not say who would be primarily responsible for coaching Lee while he is in the United States, saying an announcement would be made soon, but that Grant will play a major role.
As for his big step forward, Lee is under no illusion as to what to expect. “I think I know what is out there and I just want to stay focused and do my best,” Lee said.
Going up against the top professionals in the world, he said, will require him to step up his game several more notches. “Yes, I know that the work gets much harder now and the training is much more intense, but I just have to go out there and do my best,” he insisted.
(See part two of this story in tomorrow’s Observer)
Double IAAF world 100m champion Dexter Lee (centre) poses with (from left) Todd Klein, Director of Global Athletics & Federations at Reebok; high school coach Claude Grant, On Track Management’s Juanita Bryan; and its CEO Claude Bryan after announcing his deal with Reebok on Sunday at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan. (Photo: Paul Reid)
• Junior track star signs with Reebok;
• Curtails high school career
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer
reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Reebok Grand Prix meeting held at the Icahn Stadium.
Lee, who won the Class One 100m event at Boys’ Champs in early April, has signed a long-term agreement with Reebok and has therefore given up the
right to defend that title, but said he has no regrets about his decision.
“No, I have no regrets about giving up high school track and field and a chance to repeat as Class One 100m champion,” he told the Observer.
Lee, who also won the 100m in Classes Two and Three, as well as at the Under-17 level at CARIFTA Games, says he is ready to move on. “I am definitely
MANHATTAN, New York — Double IAAF world 100m champion Dexter Lee of Herbert Morrison Technical has done what some deemed inevitable, embracing a contractual relationship with Reebok, which will see him as one of the future standardbearers for the brand.
Surrounded by Claude Bryan, the CEO of On Track Management, who will be his agent; Juanita Bryan, also of On Track Management; his long-time high school coach, Claude Grant; and Todd Klein, Director of Global Athletics & Federations at Reebok, who the young athlete will sign with, Lee made the announcement in an exclusive interview with the Observer on Sunday at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan.
All five were in the US city for the ready to move on. It would be nice to win (at Champs) again, but this is a bigger opportunity, so I just have to go forward and take it.”
Lee, who joins the likes of triple Olympic champion and double world record holder Usain Bolt and National Junior record holder in the 100m, Yohan Blake, to go professional right out of high school, will not forego further schooling, however, as he says he will enrol in school in the USA in September and will pursue a business degree.
While not going into specifics about the dollar value of the contract, Bryan said it would reflect his status as a twotime world champion and would include college tuition as well as accommodation, among other perks.
Bryan, who is also the agent for twotime Olympic Games 200m champion and IAAF World Championships 100m champion Veronica Campbell Brown, said that Lee would not sever ties with coach Grant anytime soon.
Grant will continue to prepare Lee for the National Junior Trials to be held at the GC Foster College June 13-14, said Bryan, after which Lee will commence “his transition” to the United States.
Bryan did not say who would be primarily responsible for coaching Lee while he is in the United States, saying an announcement would be made soon, but that Grant will play a major role.
As for his big step forward, Lee is under no illusion as to what to expect. “I think I know what is out there and I just want to stay focused and do my best,” Lee said.
Going up against the top professionals in the world, he said, will require him to step up his game several more notches. “Yes, I know that the work gets much harder now and the training is much more intense, but I just have to go out there and do my best,” he insisted.
(See part two of this story in tomorrow’s Observer)
Double IAAF world 100m champion Dexter Lee (centre) poses with (from left) Todd Klein, Director of Global Athletics & Federations at Reebok; high school coach Claude Grant, On Track Management’s Juanita Bryan; and its CEO Claude Bryan after announcing his deal with Reebok on Sunday at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan. (Photo: Paul Reid)
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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