January is often the month we see lots of new sponsorship announcements, and American apparel company Zoot Sports has been particularly busy over the past couple of weeks. Last week we learned that the American company, which started on Hawaii’s Big Island in 1983, has signed American Ironman champion Sam Long to a multi-year deal. Today we learned he’ll be joined on the Zoot Sports roster by fellow American Matt Hanson.
Long has a huge social media presence and received lots of attention last winter when he and Canadian Lionel Sanders battled over the Strava KOM for Mt Lemmon in Arizona. The two would also capture the sport’s attention with a sprint finish at the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship in St. George, Utah in May – Sanders managed to get to the line just ahead.
Long would go on to take Ironman Coeur d’Alene in June – once again he found himself in a duel with Sanders, but the Canadian would be slowed to a walk early in the marathon. In September Long was the runner-up behind Gustav Iden at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Long’s resume includes two Ironman titles along with five Ironman 70.3 wins.
Hanson is a five-time Ironman champion, including three Ironman North American titles. One of the fastest runners in the sport, Hanson has the sixth-fastest full-distance time ever recorded (his 7:39:25 at Ironman Texas in 2018), running a blazing 2:34:39 marathon along the way, considered the fastest ever run for the full-distance. (Iden would run 2:34:51 at Ironman Florida in Nov., 2021). In addition to his Ironman wins, Hanson is also a five-time Ironman 70.3 champion. Zoot will also be supplying racing and training gear for the Matt Hanson age group race team.
