Team On grows by two: Joselyn Brea Abreu and Sam Ellis join the roster of track athletes
Venezuelan triathlete turned runner Joselyn Brea Abreu, and American mid-distance runner Sam Ellis join the Swiss sportswear company’s team of track runners.
Zurich, Switzerland, September 12, 2023 - Also halfway through 2023, the growth of the On team shows no signs of stopping. The latest additions are Venezuelan Joselyn Brea Abreu and American Sam Ellis.
Coming full circle with On: Joselyn Brea Abreu
Venezuelan Joselyn Daniely Brea Abreu was a triathlete for the first 13 years of her sportive career, but the 29-year-old switched to running to pursue her Olympic dreams on the track. She now focuses on the 1500 and 5000m distances.
“My mom always told me that I was a very restless girl who liked to run a lot. I lived 300 meters from an athletics track, but I was not able to train much because my knees hurt from the shoes I wore. So I focussed on triathlon first”, Abreu remembers. “I got to know On through my idol in triathlon, Nicola Spirig. She was the first person I spotted with the CloudTec technology on her feet. I saw how the brand evolved year after year and how invested they were in helping everyone get the best out of themselves with their footwear and apparel.”
In her time as a triathlete, she collected two gold medals at the Duathlon World Championships in 2021 and 2022, but her weakest discipline, swimming, hampered her progress as a triathlete. After making the switch to athletics, she became the first South American woman in history to run the 5000 meters below 15 minutes in April 2023 and also broke the South American mile record at the Monaco Diamond League. She has represented her country at World Athletics Championships twice.
“The On Track Nights event in Los Angeles in May has been a pivotal moment in my career. I had a lot of anxiety about it because all the girls competing there had sponsorships, and I was struggling to get the funds to return to Venezuela after the competition. My biggest lesson was to never give up. I used it as fuel to do my absolute best on the track, and I finished second and qualified for the World Championships in Budapest with my time. I met my manager Stephen there, and On, the brand that organized the event, the one I had seen on Nicola’s feet so many years ago, eventually became my sponsor.”
Collegiate runner Sam Ellis goes pro with On
In addition to Brea Abreu, American Sam Ellis is joining On’s roster of track athletes. The adventure-loving 24-year-old will join forces with fellow On athlete Kieran Lumb and remain with his coach Andy Powell at the University of Washington going forward.
“I played pretty much every sport growing up. Basketball, baseball, soccer”, Ellis says of his way into the sport. “In 6th grade, I got cut from the middle school baseball team and decided to try running track. I ended up making state and realized I was better at running than anything else. By my junior year of high school, I was just running track and cross country, it became my passion.”
Following his high-school career, Ellis was recruited to Princeton and developed into a 3:57 miler and national qualifier before the Covid pandemic hit. After taking a year off in 2020/21, trying to make it to the Olympic trials when the schools closed down, Ellis returned to Princeton to finish his bachelor's in International Affairs and Public Policy. He anchored the team to fourth place in the DMR at NCAA indoors and finished 3rd in the 1500m at NCAA outdoors. He then decided to finish his eligibility at the University of Washington, where he was a part of the program’s first-ever PAC-12 Championship and reached a personal best in every event.
“During my collegiate days, I fell in love with the sport and began to train with aspirations of becoming a professional runner. On is the most exciting, refreshing, and fastest-growing running brand in the world. I love the energy and personality they bring to the track community”, Ellis says of his decision to become a professional runner as an On athlete. “ It is also a company that prioritizes running, and seems super personable and caring to the people they sponsor. The international component is big for me, too. I really am looking forward to traveling the world doing the sport I love.”
Kevin Quadrozzi, On Athlete Partnership Manager Running: “Both Joselyn and Sam are fantastic additions to the team. We are really happy to finally have a Latin American athlete on the roster with Joselyn. She is still very young and will continue to get faster as she navigates new distances on the track as well as the roads. Sam is one of America’s most promising young milers. Pairing him with fellow On athlete Kieran Lumb was a no-brainer. They both will learn from each other and from coach Powell, which ultimately will make both of them stronger, faster, and better.”
You can find images for editorial usage here (© On).
About On
On was born in the Swiss Alps with one goal: to revolutionize the sensation of running by empowering all to run on clouds. Thirteen years after market launch, On delivers industry-disrupting innovation in premium footwear, apparel, and accessories for high-performance running, outdoor, and all-day activities. Fueled by customer recommendation, On’s award-winning CloudTec® innovation, purposeful design, and groundbreaking strides in sportswear’s circular economy have attracted a fast-growing global fan base — inspiring humans to explore, discover and dream on.
On is present in more than 60 countries globally and engages with a digital community on www.on.com.