Blame for the poor performance of the U.S. speed skating team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games has been variously assigned in varying degrees to the coaching staff’s decision to spend less time training at sea-level and to the Mach 39 skinsuit provided to the team by Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA). Despite the bad press it has received over the suits, Under Armour on Friday confirmed that it has renewed its partnership with US Speedskating through the 2022 Games.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the chief executive of US Speedskating, the governing body for U.S. speed skaters, told the group’s athletes that Under Armour “will not retreat from supporting USS despite challenges we’ve gone through together.” The Mach 39 suits were developed by Under Armour with the help of Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) to help U.S. skaters gain more speed.
But as one skater after another failed to win, the search began for a culprit. Many U.S. skaters believed the Mach 39 suit was flawed in its design and that it was increasing drag, and thus slowing them down. Maybe so, but what is virtually certain is that when an idea like this gets into the head of an elite athlete, whether or not the idea is true is almost irrelevant.
Under Armour is showing its fighting spirit by signing up to continue producing suits for US Speedskating. Whether the company can beat back the image it has been stuck with as a result of this brouhaha is another matter altogether.
Shares of Under Armour were up about 1.5% in premarket trading Friday, at $108.75 in a 52-week range of $46.31 to $110.00.
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