11-07-2023, 03:27 PM
Track & Field compensation is at least as complicated as the NCAA.
As an NCAA champion in a sprint event he likely would get some appearance fees and/or invitations to key meets around the world. It might approach six figures, but not much more. Olympic champions routinely are earning less than $250K. Some athletes are near celebrities in very wealthy countries, and therefore do OK with limited on track success.
The bigger reasons to move almost certainly are related to Nigeria and the relay team.
I would imagine that he has a decent chance to reach the 200M Olympic finals.
Not sure what Nigeria offers Olympians, but becoming an Olympic finalists in the 200M would maximize annual compensation and give access to key Diamond league events.
The USA's 4X100 is notorious for coming together very late and then winning gold or silver despite awful baton passes. Nigeria has just enough talent that they could win an Olympic medal with a touch of luck, and loads of training on baton passes. Leaving Stanford now presumably would give him a chance to join that 4X100 team. Nigeria would almost certainly make the 4X100 finals, so he would run between 2024 and 2028 as an "Olympic finalist" even if the 200M does not quite go as well as hoped.
Should that Nigerian team win a medal, or perhaps get silver or gold should other key countries suffer DQs, that could be valuable. As it is much easier to land in key meets as an "Olympic medalist". However, I don't think he could join that relay team if he is unavailable for team training prior to late June.
And then there is a simple idea that he just wants to do the best he can in the 2024 Olympics. The common wisdom now is that NCAA athletes are running in too many meets and events in the months before the Olympics to do well in the Olympics. The cumulative distance is presumably not a concern for a sprinter like Udodi, but each competition provides a risk of injuries that could jeopardize the health needed to excel in the Olympics.
As an NCAA champion in a sprint event he likely would get some appearance fees and/or invitations to key meets around the world. It might approach six figures, but not much more. Olympic champions routinely are earning less than $250K. Some athletes are near celebrities in very wealthy countries, and therefore do OK with limited on track success.
The bigger reasons to move almost certainly are related to Nigeria and the relay team.
I would imagine that he has a decent chance to reach the 200M Olympic finals.
Not sure what Nigeria offers Olympians, but becoming an Olympic finalists in the 200M would maximize annual compensation and give access to key Diamond league events.
The USA's 4X100 is notorious for coming together very late and then winning gold or silver despite awful baton passes. Nigeria has just enough talent that they could win an Olympic medal with a touch of luck, and loads of training on baton passes. Leaving Stanford now presumably would give him a chance to join that 4X100 team. Nigeria would almost certainly make the 4X100 finals, so he would run between 2024 and 2028 as an "Olympic finalist" even if the 200M does not quite go as well as hoped.
Should that Nigerian team win a medal, or perhaps get silver or gold should other key countries suffer DQs, that could be valuable. As it is much easier to land in key meets as an "Olympic medalist". However, I don't think he could join that relay team if he is unavailable for team training prior to late June.
And then there is a simple idea that he just wants to do the best he can in the 2024 Olympics. The common wisdom now is that NCAA athletes are running in too many meets and events in the months before the Olympics to do well in the Olympics. The cumulative distance is presumably not a concern for a sprinter like Udodi, but each competition provides a risk of injuries that could jeopardize the health needed to excel in the Olympics.