Nike has its tail between its legs and Adidas is leaping for joy with the excitement of an over-indulged puppy.
A handful of years after Nike poured millions of dollars into Eliud Kipchoge's mission to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon – a mission that was successful, but came with an asterisk – a star runner from the Adidas stable has become the first man in history to break the mark officially.
In an epic, watershed moment in athletics history on Sunday, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya stormed through the London Marathon in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds (1:59:30).
READ MORE: Huge hand Nike and its rivals have played in Aussie athletics golden age
READ MORE: 'Awful trouble' facing Maroons if they pick Munster
READ MORE: Luai spotted in PNG as Chiefs ramp up marquee pursuit
He did so in a pair of Adidas' Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 – the sportswear juggernaut's latest and greatest production in the multibillion-dollar "super shoes" war.
In 2017, Kipchoge, the Kenyan icon widely regarded the greatest marathon runner in history, was unsuccessful in his first attempt at cracking the two-hour mark.
Running on the Monza Formula 1 track behind a car beaming a green laser light and assisted by a rotating cast of 30 pacemakers – performance-boosting factors that rendered the run unofficial – he stopped the clock at 2:00:25.
Nike had pumped millions of dollars into that project – and it failed.
In 2019, Kipchoge again set out to break the two-hour barrier. And on this occasion he did, clocking 1:59:40 in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Mission accomplished.
The only problem was similar performance-enhancing factors, including the assistance of a rotating army of 41 pacemakers, meant the legendary distance runner had sort of, but not really, run a marathon in less than two hours.
For Kipchoge's second attempt, at least, Nike had the financial backing of British chemical manufacturing company INEOS, which contributed a reported $26 million to the project.
When Sawe became the first official sub-two-hour marathon runner in history in London on Sunday, it was as much a win for Adidas as it was for the athlete.
He was handed a pen and jotted down on his Adidas shoe: "1:59:30 WR sub 2."
He held the shoe up for the dozens of cameras flashing in front of him and the images were beamed into millions of living rooms around the globe.
Adidas, inevitably, will cash in as millions of keen recreational runners scramble to snare their own pair of the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 when it becomes available to the public this year.
Not only did Sawe run in the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, the runner-up did, too, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia. And Kejelcha, remarkably, also shattered the two-hour barrier, clocking 1:59:41.
"This is a testament to the years of hard work and dedication they have made, alongside our innovation team, who have built a super shoe which breaks new ground," said Patrick Nava, general manager of running at Adidas.
The top-finishing Nike athlete in the men's field was Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda. He finished third and also broke the previous world record – the 2:00:35 run by the late and great Kelvin Kiptum in the 2023 Chicago Marathon – but didn't quite dip under the two-hour mark, running 2:00:28. He was running in a Nike prototype shoe.
The winner of the women's field in the London Marathon, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa, is also an Adidas runner. She ran 2:15:41 to break the women-only world record, which already belonged to her.
Nike didn't podium in the women's field. Hellen Obiri, who's sponsored by On, finished second, and ASICS athlete Joyciline Jepkosgei took third.
Despite Adidas' thumping win over Nike in London, Nike posted to social media: "The clock has been reset. There is no finish line." Nike also congratulated Sawe on his historic run. It was a classy response.
The sportswear behemoth will be desperately hoping Sawe's record doesn't last long, and that it's a runner from the Nike stable who resets the clock.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.