.png)
NEWS: Penn State Olympian Handal Roban & South Carolina's Jaouad Khchina Sign NIL Deals With Adidas
- Aimee Mackenzie
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
Written by Aimee Morganti, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
Handal Roban, a Penn State Olympian, has inked a "Name, Image and Likeness" (NIL) deal with Adidas, announcing his new deal on his Instagram page. He joins South Carolina's Jaouad Khchina and NC State's Hannah Gapes as the latest signees to join Adidas' NIL roster.
On his signing, Handal Roban stated to FloTrack...
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for blessing me with the health and strength to be in this position. I’m incredibly grateful to my coaches, my mom, my teammates, my family, and my entire team for their constant support. Their belief in m means everything. I’m truly honored and excited to join the Three Stripes family and can’t wait for what’s ahead.”
Recently, Roban raced to an incredible NCAA #3 all-time indoor 800-meter mark of 1:44.91, securing the overall win at the Penn State National Open. Then, at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge, the Nittany Lion star produced an NCAA #4 all-time 600-meter mark of 1:14.89.
The Penn State 800-meter specialist is a three-time All-American. During his freshman year, he burst onto the NCAA scene with two 3rd place finishes between the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships and the 2023 NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships. Roban secured his third All-American honors with a 7th place finish over 800 meters at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Penn State superstar later qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800 meters in 2024 and 2025 placing 16th and 14th at those national meets, respectively. Roban is a seven-time BIG 10 podium finisher between the 800 meters, 600 meters and the 4x400-meter relay. In 2024, the Nittany Lion star won the 600-meter BIG 10 title.
A two-time NACAC Champion over 800 meters, Roban's 2025 victory in the Bahamas led to him earning a jaw-dropping personal best of 1:42.87. Prior to that, Roban had represented Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris over 800 meters.
We then come South Carolina’s Jaouad Khchina who has also announced an NIL deal with Adidas which he made public on his Instagram page. He joins middle distance star Handal Roban, among others, on Adidas’ NIL roster.
In his post, Jaouad Khchina stated...
“Alhamdulillah, Proud to officially sign my NIL deal with Adidas. Grateful for the opportunity, let’s start this journey.”
Khchina has excelled so far this winter, running an NCAA #2 all-time 1000-meter mark of 2:17.36. Then, at the 2026 Razorback Invitational, the breakout Gamecock star raced to a brilliant 3:53.90 mile PR, a new personal best by almost four seconds.
The Moroccan athlete was the 2025 African U20 1500-meter champion in a time of 3:38.17. He currently holds personal bests of 1:47 (800), 2:17 (1k), 3:53 (mile), 3:37 (1500) and 7:51 (3k).
Jaouad Khchina has represented Morocco on three World Championship teams. He placed 23rd over 8000 meters at the 2023 U20 World XC Championships in Australia. He later extended that momentum into the 2024 track season by placing 2nd over 1500 meters at the U20 Moroccan Championships and then 10th at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships over 1500 meters in Peru.
