Simone Biles Teams Up with Athleta in New Partnership
After taking home four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Simone Biles quickly shot into
the spotlight. The 4’8” gymnast turned heads with her incredible talent, and everyone was talking
about it. As a professional gymnast, Biles signed a contract to work with Nike, a huge, and
incredibly well-known company. However, after almost six years, the former Olympian has
ended that relationship in order to team up with a more female- focused activewear brand,
Athleta.
Last week, Simone entered into a long-term partnership with Athleta. Throughout the duration of
this time, she will help develop signature products for the company, including the Athleta Girl
line. The partnership also includes an arrangement for Athleta to fund a post- Olympic
gymnastics exhibition tour. While this transition was not necessarily expected, it seems that the
gold medalist had been wanting to make a change. In a recent interview she suggested that her
values align better with Athleta, as a female- focused company, and it seems they are just as
excited to be working with her, as she is all over their website and social media.
Athleta was first founded in 1998, and is owned by Gap Inc, but has continued to gain popularity
over time. With over 190 stores across the United States, the brand is still growing.
At Athleta, “Our mission is to ignite a community of active, healthy, confident women and girls who
empower each other to reach their limitless potential”. This female focused goal helps them
stand out among other brands, especially with a 97-percent female workforce, they certainly
have not gone unnoticed. As an activewear brand, there are a lot of other competitors in the
market, but their mission and values have helped them gain a huge following of loyal customers.
While Biles’ partnership with Athleta is just getting started, other athletes have been making
that transition as well. Similarly, to Biles, in 2019, US track and field sprinter Allyson Felix
joined the Athleta family after leaving Nike as well. At that time Nike was under fire for not
financially supporting pregnant athletes. While the issue was quickly resolved, that was not the
first time Nike has faced a scandal regarding the treatment of female employees and sponsored
athletes.
With the current success of Athleta and everything that they stand for, it is likely that we will see
more and more partnerships with the company in the future. As for Biles, we are excited to see
what she does with this opportunity, and where it will take her.