'She pays for all of our training costs' - Coach Tim Rowberry reveals Sifan Hassan's generous side

'She pays for all of our training costs' - Coach Tim Rowberry reveals Sifan Hassan's generous side

Abigael Wafula 17:21 - 16.11.2024

Sifan Hassan's coach Tim Rowberry revealed that he operates independently, relying on Sifan Hassan for funding and covering training costs.

Sifan Hassan’s coach Tim Rowberry has revealed a side not well known to many about the reigning Olympic marathon champion.

In an interview with Letsrun.com, Tim Rowberry noted that he does not have a Nike contract and relies mainly on Sifan Hassan to cater for most of the things in the camp.

The main athletes he is currently working with are Sifan Hassan and Halimah Nakaayi and he revealed that the Ugandan athlete does not get paid well. He pointed out that Nakaayi, the 2019 world champion, requested for permission to join the group.

Tim Rowberry says any athlete who joins the training group must pay a certain fee but Sifan Hassan covers a lot of that.

“Right now, it’s mainly Halimah and Sifan. It’s hard to find more athletes. Halimah just asked if she could join, and we were like, cool, come join. It’s one of those things where the only reason I don’t have more athletes is because people haven’t asked. I’ve asked Nike to send me people, but they’ve only suggested a few athletes,” he said.

“I actually have no contract with anyone. I could coach any athlete. It’s just simply that people haven’t asked. Sifan covers everything. She pays for all of our training costs and my coaching fee. And then obviously any athlete that joins me has to pay a coaching fee as well.

“But Halimah, for example, African athletes get paid very, very little, so she can only pay me so much for a coaching fee. I’m not making a lot of money, I’m just getting enough to get by,” he added.

He added that it would be nice if Nike gave him a contract as a coach since he has worked with them before. Tim Rowberry's contract wity Nike ended in 2020 and since then, he has been working as an independent entity.

The tactician, however, revealed that he is loving the independence since it’s only him and Sifan Hassan who decide what to do whenever they want.

“I love Nike, I wish they would sponsor my group and give me more athletes. I really don’t know why they haven’t at this point. I guess I just don’t have enough friends at Nike. I’m not getting paid by Nike,” Tim Rowberry said.

“I had a contract with them for a few years and that ended in 2020. Ever since then, I’ve just been independent. But that gives us a lot more freedom. I don’t have to talk to anyone, I don’t have to do anything except for what Sifan and I decide to do.”

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