By Joseph Hoyt
In the past week, in the midst of training for the Prefontaine Classic, Boris Berian was sued and tattooed by two different major companies.
But his life off the track didn’t keep him from continuing his rise on it. He won the 800 meters Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic, his second major victory on the international circuit in the past two months, winning in 1 minute, 44.20 seconds.
“I’m out here to run,” Berian said. “That’s my job and that’s what I love to do – just go out there and be the best I can.”
Kenya’s Ferguson Cheruyiot Rotich finished in second at 1:44.56, and Oregon alum Andrew Wheating came in eighth.
Last Friday, at the Hoka One One Classic at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Nike served Berian with a breach of contract lawsuit, and in response, T-Mobile CEO John Legere asked Berian if he’d get the company’s logo tattooed on his arm for the Pre. Berian obliged Legere’s request on Friday night.
“Just helping support,” Berian said with his new tattoo covered by a pink bandage on his right arm. “I love to support the positive and all that. He’s there to support me with whatever I need.”
Legere showed that support Saturday on Twitter.
.@borisgump800 @TMobile looks great Boris… Wow the crowd and ignore the bullies @Nike :))
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) May 28, 2016
Berian became the second U.S. middle-distance runner to partner with T-Mobile. Earlier this month, Legere won an eBay bid of $21,800 to tattoo his company’s logo on the right shoulder of Nick Symmonds, who has been vocally protesting the exclusive sponsorship deals U.S. Track and Field and the International Olympic Committee have, saying they limit the rights of athletes and other sponsors.
When asked if anything was interrupting his training, Berian said, with a laugh, “No. Just running, chilling, playing video games.”
As for the race itself, Berian said he didn’t know how it was going to go. He wanted to feel the pace rather than rely on a pre-race plan. Three hundred meters into the race, he wanted to evaluate where he was. He surged ahead of everyone else, but when he saw the pacer, Harun Abda, separating in front of him, he picked up his speed.
“At 400, I felt comfortable taking a lead and holding on,” Berian said.
Before the race, Wheating had tweeted, “Pre-race nerves are not like having butterflies in your stomach…it’s more like scorpions.” He visualized his race and knew the competition was going to be tough. He told himself that he would stay in the back of the group and feel out when he should make a move around the 600-meter mark.
“I pushed through, got to 600 and it was pretty apparent to me that I wasn’t going to be making any big moves,” Wheating said.
At the same spot, still in first, Berian felt Cheruyiot Rotich and Ethiopia’s Mohammed Aman closing in. He switched gears on his speed and pushed himself to the finish line.
“I just gave it all I got,” he said.
With the U.S. Olympic Trials coming to Hayward Field in July, Berian said he plans to run in two more races. Since winning the 800 at the IAAF Indoor World Championships in March, he’s felt increased fan support, and he’s been training hard. But now he has one major goal.
“Stay healthy…that’s pretty much the only thing that can bring me down,” Berian said.
