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Ultimate Performance Sport Management Adds Three Olympians to its Roster

Johnson - who was just named to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and will be inducted on August 12 - brings a very unique perspective to his role as a sports agent by combining his own personal experience as a professional athlete along with his expertise in sports management, and the business relationships he has developed. Johnson and his team will function not only as a contract negotiator but also as a manager for travel and logistics, marketing opportunities and promotional obligations.

"When I retired in 2001, I felt that I was uniquely qualified to offer other athletes the same quality and personal attention that helped me to achieve success as a professional athlete, so I created Ultimate Performance," Johnson said. "We're incredibly selective about whom we represent, and I couldn't be more excited to work with and for these three amazing young men."

Six-time NCAA Champ Galen Rupp said this blend of personal experience, expertise and professionalism is what drew him to Ultimate Performance.

"I've always surrounded myself with good people, and it's a tight circle," Rupp said. "I felt an immediate connection with Michael. I knew I could trust him, and that's one of the most important things to me."

ThePortland native and U.S. 10,000-meter Champion placed 13th in the Beijing Olympics last summer and made his third U.S. National Team last week.

In addition to Rupp, Ultimate Performance will represent 23-year-old sprinter Michael Bingham ofNorth Carolina, who competed forGreat Britain in the 4 x 400-meter relay inBeijing and helped lead the team to a fourth-place finish. Bingham is the reigning NCAA Indoor Champion (400m) and an All-American (Indoor and Outdoor), with a personal record of 45.02 seconds. He also was named to eight all-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams while at Wake Forest University.

Rounding out this celebrated group is 400-meter hurdler Javier Culson Perez. The six-foot, six-inch 24-year-old competed for his nativePuerto Rico at last year's summer Olympic Games and has an outdoor personal best time of 48.43 seconds. Not only will Perez be a client of Ultimate Performance Sport Management, but he will also be training with Johnson and his team at the renowned Michael Johnson Performance Center, a 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility inMcKinney, Texas. Visit www.michaeljohnsonperformance.com and www.upsportmanagement.com for more information.

SOURCE Ultimate Performance Sport Management