Nick Symmonds has always considered himself a businessman first and an 800-meter runner second.
“I’ve never really considered myself a runner,” he said. “Running was a business of mine” and “a great way for me to market products.”
In a recent interview, Symmonds, 33, announced that he would retire from the track after the 2017 outdoor season. He will leave the sport as a two-time Olympian, a six-time United States outdoor champion at 800 meters and a silver medalist at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.
He will also leave as perhaps the most outspoken, polarizing and essential American track and field athlete of the past decade.