At last weekend鈥檚 in New York City, Kemoy Campbell, a 28-year-old Jamaican distance runner who is sponsored by Reebok, collapsed during the men鈥檚 3000-meters. Campbell, who was participating in the race as a pacesetter, stepped off the track at about the 1000-meter mark and immediately fell to the ground and lost consciousness. As , Campbell was given chest compressions by EMT staff and treated with a defibrillator on scene. Eventually, he was transported to New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Hospital, where, according to Sports Illustrated, he was placed in a medically induced coma for 48 hours. (Ray Flynn, Campbell鈥檚 agent, has .)听On Wednesday听morning, Campbell posted an emotional 听signaling that he was recovering.
Meanwhile, Campbell鈥檚 family has started a to help cover his mounting medical costs. An initial target goal of $100,000 was subsequently increased to $200,000. To help offset the financial burden, Reebok President Matt O鈥橳oole to Sports Illustrated, noting that 鈥淜emoy is an important part of the Reebok family,鈥 and that the company would be contributing $50,000 to help him with his medical expenses. (No specific information about Campbell鈥檚 medical bills has been made public.) When this , responses were mixed. On the one hand, Reebok was praised for their donation. , if Campbell was such an听important part of the 鈥淩eebok family,鈥 the company hadn鈥檛 provided him with health insurance.
This is a good question. And it鈥檚 a reminder of the degree to which pro runner contracts are a closely guarded industry secret, which, needless to say, does not benefit the athletes. While runner salaries occasionally become , the subject of health insurance comes up less frequently. But when your chosen profession requires subjecting your body to intense physical strain over many years, health insurance is hardly a trivial issue.听
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In response to Twitter queries about Reebok, Jesse Williams, who until recently was a Sports Marketing Manager for Brooks, noted that, in his experience, it was uncommon for track athletes to receive health insurance from their sponsor. Williams added that, while some high-profile athletes might have a special arrangement, for the most part, pro runners are essentially considered independent contractors and hence responsible for their own health coverage. When I asked Nick Symmonds, a retired 800-meter runner, to corroborate this, he echoed Williams鈥檚 claim, though he mentioned that some elite running clubs offer health insurance as a perk to get top athletes to compete for them. Symmonds, for example, benefited from this when he competed for the Oregon Track Club and then for the Brooks Beasts.
Campbell doesn鈥檛 appear to have been so lucky. When I texted Flynn, his agent, to ask whether Campbell had health insurance, he replied that Campbell only had 鈥渧ery basic鈥 coverage and that he would likely 鈥渋ncur substantial medical costs.鈥澨
Considering that Campbell collapsed during an official meet, I wondered whether the event organizers, in this case the Armory Foundation, shouldn鈥檛 also be obligated to share some of the financial burden. A spokesperson for the New York Road Runners (the title sponsor for the Millrose Games)听referred me to USA Track and Field, because the meet is a USATF-sanctioned event.听
鈥淎ll USATF athletes would indeed receive the Participant Accident (PA) coverage,鈥 Susan Hazzard, USATF鈥檚 Director of Communications informed me in an email. 鈥淯nfortunately, Mr. Campbell was not a USATF athlete. When elite USATF athletes compete (regardless of location), USATF provides them with medical coverage to cover these type of circumstances,鈥 Hazzard wrote, adding that USATF wishes Campbell a full recovery. 听
Other major track meets around the world appear to take a different approach. When I reached out to the IAAF to ask about who would be liable if an athlete had a medical emergency at an IAAF-sanctioned event, Nicole Jeffery, the Head of Communications, replied that at all IAAF events, 鈥渕eeting organisers must take out insurance to cover any incidents for all athletes, regardless of their event or role in the competition.鈥澨
It will be of little consolation to him, but had Campbell been hospitalized at, say, a Diamond League meet in Europe, it seems that he wouldn鈥檛 be liable for his medical bills. Of course, even if he were, those bills would likely only be that they are here.听