Turning Olympic gold into cash

APEX -- Lunch was barely under way Thursday when Evan Morgenstein's phone buzzed with a call from Dara Torres, who recently made history with three Olympic silver medals in swimming at age 41.

While he ate his salmon, he also settled a dispute between two massively popular daytime talk shows over appearances by Jason Lezak, whose anchor leg in the 400 freestyle relay was one of the Beijing Olympics' most dramatic moments.

The Cary-based agent was trying to take care of as much business as possible before scrambling to Texas to attend a victory parade for gold-medal gymnast Nastia Liukin on Saturday.

In less than a week since returning from Beijing, where his clients won 21 medals, Morgenstein has hung out backstage with Jay Leno, booked appearances for his clients on "Oprah" and "Ellen" and secured a spot on a Wheaties box for Liukin.

"It's insane," Morgenstein said. "Nuts. It's the ride of a lifetime. Everybody should come along."

Liukin and swimmers Torres, Lezak, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Cullen Jones all stand to profit handsomely from their Olympic success. What's unusual is that this gravy train rolls right through the Triangle, where Morgenstein operates his agency, PMG, out of his house in Cary.

With his shoulder-length hair, gargantuan Armani watch and bionically attached Blackberry, Morgenstein, 42, has some of the trappings of the typical agent. On the other hand, he works from home and prefers jeans and short sleeves to designer suits.

When Jones interviewed agents as a senior at N.C. State, Morgenstein showed up like he'd just stepped off the beach. Jones' mother turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe, he was wearing shoes," Jones said Friday in a telephone interview. "Maybe."

But Morgenstein also understood Jones' hopes of encouraging more minorities to learn to swim. (Jones nearly drowned as a 5-year-old.) Only days after Jones returned from Beijing with a gold medal, the wheels were already in motion.

"It's kind of hard to keep up with Evan," Jones said. "He's got the snowball rolling down the hill. It's fun to watch."

Morgenstein had gone from selling software to representing NBA players before a chance meeting with Olympic swimmer Josh Davis in February 1997 -- just as the Olympic movement was abandoning its pretenses of amateurism -- changed his focus.

Morgenstein foresaw the emergence of a middle class of Olympic athletes. Davis, who won three golds in 1996 but felt overlooked by his agent, signed up. Janet Evans, Brooke Bennett and Amanda Beard soon followed.

In Beijing, just about everyone on NBC's hot list but record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Shawn Johnson was a PMG client.

While Morgenstein was building his client list, he moved his operations to a town better known for subdivisions than high-powered agency dealings. The New York native was living in Los Angeles when he visited a friend in Cary in 1999 and found the contrast with Marina del Rey irresistible. Two days later, he bought a house.

Almost a decade later, he has outgrown his 1,200-square-foot home office. Vice president Laura Cutler, a former N.C. State swimmer, handles the details from there, and Morgenstein also has agents in Tucson, Ariz., and New York. Thursday, he was in Apex looking for more space.

Liukin's new stardom alone might prompt an upgrade. Morgenstein pursued her as a 15-year-old and stuck with her through her ankle problems. She's doing the usual post-Olympics arena tour, but that's just the beginning.

"Can Nastia be bigger than Mary Lou Retton? Absolutely," Morgenstein said.

On Ryan Seacrest's radio show, Liukin, the gold medalist in the all-around, mentioned she liked "Gossip Girl." Before the day was over, the show's producers had called to secure a guest spot. While in New York, she'll make the rounds at Fashion Week and ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Then there's Torres, whose age-defying performance could be an endorsement bonanza. Her book deal alone is worth a reported $3 million.

"She's looking at a lifespan of opportunities and knows it," Morgenstein said. "She's looking at being influential in the way that maybe someone like Jack LaLanne was, but for women."

His male swimmers went from supporting actors in the Phelps drama to lead actors with roles of their own -- from Lezak's stunning comeback in the anchor leg of the 400 freestyle relay to the medley relay team that secured Phelps' eighth and final medal.

It didn't hurt that Rowdy Gaines, NBC's swimming analyst, is a Morgenstein client. So is Mark Spitz, who will make seven figures in endorsements without putting even a pinkie in the pool.

Clearly, Morgenstein is in the right place at the right time.

Who knew the right place would be Cary?