How do sponsors verify if an athlete is who they claim to be before offering sponsorship?

Sponsors will do thorough homework on athletes before making any commitments. Wing Lam explains that after meeting an athlete, he calls team managers, judges, and announcers to get the real story. He says: 'I'm going to call your team managers, I'm going to get the lowdown on you, whether you do what you say you think you do or not. Do not BS me, because I'm going to call you out.' He emphasizes that after 30 years in the industry, he knows almost every team manager and has extensive resources to verify an athlete's claims about their standing within teams and competitions.