MOSCOW, RUSSIA – AUGUST 13: Nick Symmonds of the United States celebrates winning silver in the Men’s 800 metres final during Day Four of the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013 at Luzhniki Stadium on August 13, 2013 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Advertising is an invaluable and expensive aspect at the Olympics, but athletes like Nick Symmonds are finding creative ways to successfully promote themselves to advertisers

One of those ways is through Ebay, as Symmonds is  selling some valuable deltoid ad space (nine inches of it, to be exact) on Ebay. As bidding ended on Thursday, it was finally sold for $21,500, with 107 bids going through for the track star’s valuable advertising space.

Due to antiquated rules, during all IAAF, USOC, and IOC governed competitions, I will be forced to tape over all forms of advertising on my body except the logos of my apparel and equipment manufacturers. Though these absurd rules certainly diminish an investment in an athlete, please know that I will put in extra effort to ensure that the winner of this auction realizes a fantastic return on investment.

This time around, T-Mobile CEO John Legere was the highest bidder for Symmonds’s deltoid space. Symmonds will also be his remaining deltoid space to promote his own gum company called Rum Gum.

About Colby Lanham

Colby Lanham is a graduate of Clemson University who, in addition to writing for The Comeback, has written for SI's Campus Rush, Bleacher Report, and Clemson Athletics. He is an alumni of the 2015 Sports Journalism Institute, where he also worked as an editorial intern for MLB.com. He has interests in football, basketball, and various forms of pop culture.