World Champion Vashti Cunningham Signs With Nike

World Champion Vashti Cunningham Signs With Nike

One day after winning the World Indoor Championship and announcing her decision to turn pro, Vashti Cunningham reportedly signed a contract with Nike. The 1

Mar 21, 2016 by Taylor Dutch
World Champion Vashti Cunningham Signs With Nike
One day after winning the World Indoor Championship and announcing her decision to turn pro, Vashti Cunningham reportedly signed a contract with Nike. 

The 18-year-old won the high jump at Sunday’s competition in Portland, Oregon and told reporters that she decided to turn pro, but hadn’t picked a sponsor. On Monday morning, local reports from her native Las Vegas confirmed that Cunningham signed a contract to compete under the sportswear giant.

Following her victory at the Oregon Convention Center, Cunningham announced that she was turning pro on the NBC television broadcast and told the media that she was hoping to sign with Nike. The social media manager of the Twitter account @NikeRunning even tweeted at the high jump phenom to congratulate her on the victory. 


Cunningham’s hope was turned into a reality when she flew back to her home of Las Vegas to officially sign the sponsorship contract. 


The daughter of NFL legend Randall Cunningham conquered the high school competition and has since been taking the professional world by storm. She won the World Indoor Championship with a height of 1.96m, but missed out on all attempts at 1.99m, which would have equaled her world junior record she set just one week prior to win the USATF Indoor Championship. 

Her victory at the World Indoor Championship made her the youngest American to ever medal at World Indoors and the youngest woman ever to win the high jump at the championships.

Watch Cunningham react to winning the championship and talk about her decision to turn pro following the victory: