Former Oregon football player and track athlete Devon Allen announced during TrackTown Tuesday that has signed his first professional contract — with Nike.
The move wasn’t much of a surprise; many former Oregon track and field athletes go on to run for Team Nike after graduation.
The announcement was met with plenty of cheers from the track-and-field-savvy audience.
“It was kind of natural, being at Oregon,” Allen told the crowd. “I’m really excited to start my professional career and have some good support with Nike.”
Super excited to officially announce I am a NIKE athlete! Can’t wait to start this chapter of my life! @NikeRunning @Nike #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/1FRfjeckp6
— Devon Allen (@DevonAllen13) March 8, 2017
Allen, a two-time U.S. 110-meter hurdle champion, finished fifth in the same event in the 2016 Rio Olympics last summer.
On Monday, Allen shared a video of his first action with live hurdles. He told the crowd on Tuesday that he’s roughly a month and a half ahead of where he was at the same point following his first knee surgery. He said his goal is to compete around the first week of May at Hayward Field during the Oregon Twilight meet.
“Overall it’s going pretty well,” Allen said. “My strength side is something that I’m really focusing on … The hard part is getting back into shape and getting that confidence back.”
Allen suffered a season-ending injury during Oregon football’s game at Nebraska and announced in November that he will forgo the remainder of his NCAA eligibility to focus on a professional track and field career.
First day over some hurdles. Like I never left 😬😁 pic.twitter.com/dTdKbZu8tB
— Devon Allen (@DevonAllen13) March 6, 2017
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne