Vitamin Shoppe Inks Sponsorship Deal With Olympics Wrestler David Taylor

The Vitamin Shoppe, an omni-channel specialty retailer and subsidiary of Franchise Group Inc. FRG, has announced a sponsorship agreement with Olympics-bound wrestler David Taylor.

The Man In the Spotlight: Taylor, who is known to his fans as “Magic Man” for his penchant of comeback victories during difficult matches, won the 2018 World Champion in his 86-kilogram weight class. He was out of commission in 2019 due to a knee injury, but has since returned to form and gold-medaled at the 2021 Pan American Championships in May.

Earlier in his career, Taylor was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a four-time Big Ten Conference champion, and a two-time winner of the Dan Hodge Trophy, the collegiate wrestling equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Taylor also won U.S. Open championships in 2015 and 2017.

The Right Stuff: While The Vitamin Shoppe did not provide details on the depth and scope of the sponsorship, CEO Sharon Leite praised Taylor’s training regimen as being aligned with its corporate focus.

“David has an unbridled competitive spirit, a sense of principled sportsmanship, and a dedication to family and healthy living that can inspire all of us,” she said. “His values are ones we proudly share at The Vitamin Shoppe and we look forward to supporting his journey on and off the wrestling mat in the coming years.”

Taylor is expected to go up against Iran’s Hassan Yazdani Charati, the 2016 Olympic champion in the 74-kilogram category, in Tokyo’s 86-kilogram category. Taylor defeated Yazdani when they last met in the 2018 World Championship.

Photo: Courtesy of The Vitamin Shoppe.

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