Owning the Lane: Women in Track & Representation

Track and field is one of the few spaces in sport where women consistently outnumber, outperform, and outlast expectations. But when the meet ends and the business begins—representation, negotiations, branding—the imbalance flips.

Athlete in starting blocks courtesy of Wix media.

Roughly three out of four certified sports agents in the U.S. are men (Zippia, 2023). In the NFL, the numbers are worse: women make up less than 9% of certified agents (Cronkite News, 2024). And while track and field isn’t as heavily policed as major leagues, the pattern holds. Most athletes—especially women—are still represented by men. The decisions about their careers, image, and post-sport futures are often made in rooms they’re not even in.

This isn’t just about gender parity. It’s about trust. It’s about cultural context. It’s about care.

Track and field, by nature, is fragmented. It’s global. It’s federation-based. There’s no draft. No centralized team ownership. That opens the door for women—especially former athletes, coaches, and performance staff—to create new lanes. Not just to “be” agents. But to redefine what representation looks like in this sport entirely.

And that’s what we’re seeing.

Across the circuit, women who’ve been doing invisible labor—organizing travel, managing recovery, prepping sponsorship decks—are finally stepping into the title: representative. It’s not just about negotiating prize money. It’s about being fluent in the language of the sport. It’s about knowing how to advocate for athletes’ bodies, schedules, and brands with actual integrity.

Organizations like PATHS Management Group aren’t disrupting anything—they’re formalizing what’s already happening. Built by coaches, agents, and strategists who’ve worked with everyone from Olympians to first-gen D1 athletes, PATHS is launching a structured track for women looking to step into athlete representation—especially in track and field.

The focus is on building a real pipeline: mentorship, legal basics, federation rules, sponsorship systems, and long-term athlete development. It’s not packaged as empowerment—it’s structured as infrastructure.

Because if we want women to own this lane, we need more than intention. We need blueprints.

For those who want a deeper dive—the data, the pathways, the casework—we’ve published a full white paper in our BLS Library. It breaks down the ecosystem of track and field representation and why this moment matters.

📚 Get access to the BLS White Paper Library by signing up here at BLS below.