Growing up, if you told Shane Cohen he was going to sign with Nike as a professional runner, he probably would have looked at you funny. Then he would have gone back to shooting baskets. But now, after a remarkable 2024 outdoor season at Virginia where he claimed a national title in the 800-meter, earned All-American First Team honors and set a personal best in the 800-meter final at the Olympic Trials, the fantasy of becoming a professional athlete has become a reality.
Cohen, who competed at Virginia for a year as a graduate transfer, turned professional a few days before Halloween, signing a sponsorship with Nike.
He will be in new Nike threads as he makes his professional debut Feb. 8 at the Millrose Games at The Armory in New York City. His first race of the year will be as part of a loaded 800-meter group battling it out indoors.
Looking at Cohen now — the accolades, the contract — it might seem like he has been planning for this his entire life. But that is not necessarily the case.
“I pretty much just [started running] because all my friends did it,” Cohen said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily.
Props to his middle school friends for essentially creating a star. Cohen started running in seventh grade. However, early on in high school, there was another sport he shone bright in. The native of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., outside of Philadelphia, had a brotherly love with basketball, one he still cherishes to this day.
“That was the first love,” Cohen said. “I definitely, whenever I can, always try to get out and play. Whether it's AFC, putting shots up, just kind of freshening up my mind from running all the time.”
Coming out of high school, Cohen considered two Division III schools for basketball. He also entertained Rider University, a Division I track program, despite knowing he probably would not run there.
“The decision was if I wanted to play basketball or just go to school for academics and enjoy my college time and experience,” Cohen said.
Choosing the latter is how in 2019, Cohen ended up 16 hours away from home at the University of Tampa. After touring the campus with family, the resort-like setting is what swayed him to spend his next four years in central Florida.
Going into Tampa, Cohen, for the first time in his sports career, did not have the opportunity to represent his school. He played basketball with friends on outdoor courts, but he felt like there was something missing. He needed more.
Cohen emailed the school’s track coach after his first semester and received the opportunity to try out for a walk-on spot. He bet on himself and eventually earned a full spot on the team.
“I re-fell in love with running, essentially,” Cohen said. “Because it was like, now is my time to really go all in on it, and especially [with it] being a Division II program, not high school anymore.”
Track might have been his second love, but Cohen put in the work to make sure he made the most of this second life as a runner. He dropped his 800-meter time from a 1:57.87 to 1:48.25 at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship.
But a femoral stress fracture in Cohen’s leg near the end of his senior season injured his quest for top times, setting him back in the recruiting process.
“You’ve got to go through your ups and downs before you get to the highs of it all,” Cohen said. “It was my senior year at Tampa. I got injured. Made transferring a whole lot harder for me.”
Virginia, though, took a chance on him.
Cohen completed a full recovery and got back on track while under the helm of Virginia Coach Vin Lananna in the 2023-24 season. One thing in particular, he said, helped him tap into his potential.
“The biggest thing for me, I would say, between Tampa and Virginia, is just the teammates,” Cohen said. “I think it's the people you're around.”
He loved his Tampa teammates. But Virginia was different.
“Guys like Gary [Martin], Conor Murphy, Wes [Porter],” Cohen said. “It's just having conversations with them. Everyone's goals are so much better.”
Cohen raced to an ACC bronze medal in the 800-meter, running a 1:46.89. Months later, he claimed Virginia's first national title in 13 years in the 800-meter, running a 1:44.97. His last-minute kick, charging down the competition, has gone relatively viral.
His style of emerging from behind is symbolic of his journey as a whole. It is something he has been doing for years.
Cohen took being the best to greater heights as he competed at the Olympic Trials in June 2024. Running against other high-octane athletes played a vital role in his decision to go professional, as the possibility of representing not only the United States, but also another brand, sunk in.
“You want to be part of a good brand that's going to best suit you,” Cohen said about deciding between Adidas and Nike. “Nike's the best of the best … And it would have been very hard for me not to go there, to say the least.”
Cohen has worn Nike forever — at a young age, during his time at Tampa and in his career at Virginia. He will wear it into this new stage of his life, too, one where he is chasing even loftier aims.
“The goal is the Olympics ... or the World Championships," Cohen said. “The goal is just to stay focused for these down months and then peak, later in the spring, and hopefully get the world standard time.”
Cohen reached the final of the Olympic Trials, running a personal best of 1:44.65 and placing sixth overall. That made him realize what the future could hold. But he understands running is a long game, one that requires elite diligence.
“It takes a lot of years of building and going through the motions before you can finally get to executing at the highest level,” Cohen said of what running has taught him.
His career has consisted of untraditional paths. But in life, as in running, and as long as Cohen is still going, there is always the possibility of that stunning final kick.
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