“Dude, did you hear the rumors this year? About the new sponsors?” Ham asked his buddy at the gym. Ham was a nickname for sure - Alfred had always hated his name so when he was a center on his high school football team he immediately adopted the moniker that they had assigned him. Through college he had lived up to the name and although he spent a lot of time in the weight room had never slimmed down. At 6’2 and 300 lbs he was a lot of muscle but it was well hidden. Now, after 5 years in the IOC’s equal competition division (which was more of an exhibition but still garnered a lot of viewership), he really had little incentive to ever do more than lift weights as he spent half the year in some kind of altered body.
“Nah man - I’ve been out of the loop. Who is it this year? Adidas? I’ve been wanting to get a few sets of Terrex hiking shoes to get me through the next few years. Be pretty sweet to have that sponsorship.” Sam said. Sam was putting in a half effort on the lat pull machine, which he was mostly at due to Ham having set up on the bench press which was close by. Sam was also an athlete in the IOC ECD, and had been since the first season with Ham. They met during the first competition and hit it off pretty well. Many folks called their friendship a bromance.
“Yeah - didn’t hear it was Adiddas.”
“What - is it some powerlifting brand? I wouldn’t mind being big and strong again.” Sam replied. He had never been very built and since he had been with the IOC ECD. He preferred to spend his free time hiking and doing water sports up in the mountains, and was very fit but never very muscular.
“Nah dude - definitely not.” Ham said as he pulled out his phone. He scrolled for a moment before coming across the article that he had read that morning. He passed it over to Sam.
“No fucking way” Sam said.
