USATF national championships put financial strain on athletes despite long list of sponsors

This is a column by Morgan Campbell, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

The USATF national championships, which begin Thursday night in Eugene, Ore., isn't just the event where American hopefuls gather to try to qualify for the world championships. Aside from the worlds, the USATF nationals might present the stiffest competition on the planet. 

At worlds, where the best of the very best gather, it's normal to see three or more sprinters eclipse 9.9 seconds in the men's 100 metres — last year's world medallists were Fred Kerley (9.86 seconds), Marvin Bracy-Williams (9.85) and Trayvon Bromell (9.88). And the podium from U.S. nationals the previous month? Same runners, same order, all under 9.9.

And that's just one event, and U.S nationals feature prime-time performers in several disciplines. Talent like that draws sponsorship dollars.

Corporate backers include the telecom company Xfinity, presenting sponsor of the men's 100, and Nike which will present the women's 100 metres. Prevagen, the brain-boosting supplement, sponsors the women's 800, and the entire meet is brought to us by Toyota.

Those companies represent a partial list, but several free-spending sports sponsors stand out by their absence. No events presented by sports books, and none by Ozempic or Rybelsus, the diabetes drugs commonly used for weight loss. The first event hasn't yet lined up and we've already set a record — the first big-time North American sports event to take place in 2023 without help from gambling companies or semaglutides.

Another noteworthy, tangentially connected, subplot to this track meet: Some of your favourite athletes are incurring significant