When the most decorated 100-metre sprinter ever stepped to the line for a final time, she told herself what she knew: that she was prepared, powerful and this race was hers—for her. The next handful of seconds were to honour everything that had brought her to this moment.Green, yellow and black hair whipping behind her—a self-proclaimed "daughter of the soil", who chose to wear the colours of her nation's flag for her final finish—gold-hued&nbsp;nails splayed in front of her, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-celebrates-shelly-ann-fraser-pryce" target="_blank">Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce</a> exploded off the blocks in the World Athletics Championship final in a capacity-filled Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. She ended her 100-metre career in the same way she began racing 18 years ago in Japan—with fierce speed, strength and composure. It was a bold tribute to Jamaica, the nation whose unyielding support has carried her through two decades at the top of the sport.In her decades of dominance—from becoming the first Caribbean woman to win Olympic gold in the 100 metres in 2008, to returning as World Champion in 2019 after giving birth to her son, Zyon—Shelly-Ann has embodied the power of duality.&nbsp;The ability to have longevity in athletics's shortest, most intense discipline; exuding femininity and self-expression in a physically demanding sport; proving motherhood and greatness can coexist.What athletes everywhere, and especially young girls, can take from Shelly-Ann's lead: the courage to run your own race, on your terms. To trust that setbacks don't define you, only your response to them. And the assurance that, if you believe in yourself and work with discipline, harmony is possible. Dreams and family, career and legacy.For that and for the now 276 incredible races and finishing line moments, thank you, Shelly-Ann.Below, go behind the scenes of the GOAT's final meet days in Tokyo.

The shoes. The hair. The finish. At the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Shelly-Ann, a five-time world champion, ended her career her way.

Sofieke van Bilsen is a 29-year-old Dutch photographer with a passion for storytelling through imagery. She is the in-house photographer for the German women's national football team, and was team photographer for the German Olympic Team in Paris 2024. She works closely with Nike athletes such as Faith Kipyegon, Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan.In her photography, she aims to create compelling visual narratives, focusing on the deep connection between emotion and athleticism. She strives to capture the raw moments behind the scenes, the untold stories of the journey and everything in between, bringing the spirit of sport to life.Sofieke's personality creates instant connections with people, and she is loved by the athletes she works with. Her relaxed and enthusiastic personality complements an incredible skill level and the ability to work in high-pressure environments for athletes.

Sofieke van Bilsen

Photo essay

Icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Ran Her Final 100 Metre On Her Terms

Over the course of his career, LeBron James has shared his passion for the game globally, partnering with Nike to travel throughout Greater China during his offseason, galvanizing a nation in its love for basketball and hoops culture. Just as LeBron's career has evolved through different eras, his tours have represented different values over the many times he's visited since 2005. Below are some of his most memorable moments in the country.

2005–2009

LeBron began his debut tour in Beijing in August of 2005. He was invited to watch the awards ceremony of the Nike Battlegrounds tournament, but he'd depart as more than just a spectator. From the moment he stepped down in China, he believed his tour could become a cross-cultural exchange rooted in a shared love of hoops and a mission to inspire the next generation of young players in China. "Basketball is not only a sport, it's also a bridge that connects people", he said.&nbsp;"This is a great learning experience for everyone. I hope I can continue to help grow the game globally and inspire the youth in China to reach their dreams".

LeBron's legacy in China is woven into special China-specific iterations of his signature footwear. In 2007, LeBron James appeared alongside NIKE, Inc.'s then-President & CEO Mark Parker to debut his Nike Zoom LeBron V "China" colourway.

LeBron returned to Beijing in 2009 after his MVP season, where he enjoyed a hero's welcome. As part of his trip, he donated equipment and provided scholarships for the Zhenhua School, a school for the children of migrant workers in suburban Beijing.

To celebrate his season, LeBron was presented with an exclusive pair of the Nike Air Max LeBron VII, featuring a Shenyang-inspired design dubbed "Loyalty" created by the local artist Ray Lei, and a Shanghai-inspired design dubbed "Family", created by the local artist Sic.

2011–2015

LeBron embraced his role as a global ambassador for the game, focusing on the opportunity to inspire China's young players. In 2011, his tour expanded to eight days over four cities, promoting grassroots basketball through a series of skill clinics and tournaments.

In 2012, with a fresh gold medal to pair with his championship ring, LeBron James made a triumphant arrival in Beijing to kick off a four-day tour as part of the&nbsp;Find Your Greatness campaign. "Greatness is defined by how much you want to put into what you do", said LeBron. "Greatness comes with victory. It also comes with being able to come back from adversity".

In 2013, LeBron returned to China with plenty to celebrate: his second straight NBA championship and MVP awards for both the regular season and the Finals.

In 2014, LeBron James was the first mentor to announce the roster for the Nike RISE, designed to help players raise their competitive game and improve their skill.

In 2015, Nike RISE 2015 evolved with LED Courts and motion-tracking drills to create a pinnacle training experience, teach the fundamentals of basketball and push the boundaries of sports training.

An emotional finale saw four players chosen to represent China at the World Streetball Championships.

2016–2019

After winning another NBA title in 2016, LeBron entered Guangzhou to a massive championship parade, the streets flanked by tens of thousands of fans, many of them in Cavs #23 jerseys. It was a signal for just how widely James's legacy had expanded throughout Asia.&nbsp;His More Than an Athlete campaign inspired young players to see basketball as one of many tools for affecting social change.

After a warm welcome from thousands of fans, he spent most of his time in Beijing working out with and coaching members of the Chinese Junior National basketball team.

Visiting primary schools throughout Beijing, LeBron shared his personal basketball experiences with young athletes, emphasising the role that hard work, dedication and self-belief played in his path to success.

In 2018, the first day of his "More Than an Athlete" tour in Shanghai began with a panel discussion with students at the Shanghai Theatre&nbsp;Academy, and ended with a park shootaround. Hundreds of fans gathered outside the court to watch him play, hoping to catch a glimpse of the icon.

This month, LeBron flew to China for his "Forever King Tour", his 15th in the country and marking the 20th anniversary of tours in Asia. There, he joined some of the world's most passionate hoopers and basketball fans, reiterating his commitment to giving back to the game across the world.

Over the course of his career, LeBron James has shared his passion for the game globally, partnering with Nike to travel throughout Greater China during his offseason, galvanizing a nation in its love for basketball and hoops culture.

Journey of an icon: 20 years of LeBron James in China

Hours of powering up steep ascents and navigating gnarly descents. Whipping mountain winds, glaring direct sun and biting evening temps. Getting mentally right with the fact that the next aid station is far, far away. Ultra trail running can sound like a gruelling, relentless sport reserved for the wildest, most hardcore athletes among us.According to our <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-acg-all-conditions-racing-department" target="_blank">All Conditions Racing Department</a> runners—six of whom just conquered pinnacle UTMB races across the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, on trails spanning 15 to 174 kilometres, with elevation gains of 1,200 to nearly 10,000 metres—the grit, determination, joy and freedom trail running gives you are worth every ounce of work. See for yourself.

<h3>ROSS GOLLAN</h3>Race: Experience Trail Courmayeur (ETC); 15K with 1,200m elevation gain Global finish rank: 29th

<h3>MARIE NIVET</h3>Race: ETC; 15K with 1,200m elevation gain Global women's finish rank: 7th

CESARE MAESTRIRace: ETC; 15K with 1,200m elevation gain Global finish rank: 2nd

<h3>BAPTISTE COATANTIEC</h3>Race: Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB); 174K with nearly 10,000m elevation gain Global finish rank: 11th

<h3>ANTHONY COSTALES</h3>Race: Courmayeur—Champex—Chamonix (CCC); 101K with more than 6,050m elevation gain Global finish rank: 15th

<h3>DREW HOLMEN</h3>Race: CCC; 101K with more than 6,050m elevation gain Global finish rank: 3rd

Powering up steep ascents. Navigating gnarly descents. Whipping mountain winds. Ultra trail running is a relentless sport. But the payoff is well worth the grind.

Ultra trail running can take everything you've got—and give you even more

On the raucous machinery floor of Nike's Air Manufacturing Innovation facility, a group of engineers study an inflated Air Max unit prototype. Its shape is stunningly technical. This "clover" unit, the visual cue that would later become the flowering, minimalist Air bag for the new <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-air-liquid-max-merges-superior-comfort-and-air-max-heritage" target="_blank">Nike Air Liquid Max</a>, is curved to help the wearer glide from each step to the next. The ride is meant to be incomparably smooth.&nbsp;But there's a catch. The unique shape of the bag is so complex it needs a lot of special attention. It's the first Max unit to include internal cut-outs. The trim, or the perimeter of the bag, is complicated to get right. Air Max engineers have a word to describe Air: elastomeric. It means that Air has the ability to transform based on changing variables like temperature and humidity. As soon as you introduce more complexity to the shape of a filled Air bag, the harder it is to cut it to a precise shape over and over again across a full size run. Think of a cookie-cutter mould. The more complicated the shape, the greater the margin for error when you slice the dough. Now imagine that dough is curved upward. That's the case for this Max Air bag, and any dip or rise in room temperature can make the bag change shape ever so slightly.&nbsp;What's more, the same design has to be replicated hundreds of thousands of times.&nbsp;High complexity. High precision. All in a minimalist silhouette meant to feel like the most nothing Max ever.&nbsp;

What does it mean to walk on Nike Air? There's the comfort, obviously. Every step should feel effortless. Then there's the unmistakable look, beginning with the Air Max I in 1987, when the big see-through bubble was actually a prism into the future of shoe cushioning. But Nike Air could never just be a platform built on inspiration. It needed to be built on technical rigour to give a precisely tuned feeling.&nbsp;While the evocation of "walking on air" is easy, creating it is anything but.

The silhouette was originally briefed in 2019 and tag-lined "The Most Nothing Max". The goal was to create an Air Max that felt light, fluid, flexible and barely detectable—a goal that's historically been at odds with the platform.

In an Air Max legacy that was founded on the big bubble, designers wondered whether an Air Max unit could, should, feel like nothing. A filled Air bag, when combined with layers of cement foam and rubber, can come across as rigid and slappy, making it challenging to feel a smooth step-to-step transition.&nbsp;"Liquid Max had to set a new visual precedent, but the Air unit also had to give a new sensation for walking on Air", says Ditte Kuijpers, design director, Nike Sportswear Innovation Footwear. "People needed to both feel and see how it was different. Every component of the shoe had to work together for this to happen".

To begin, designers and engineers discussed how this unit would break from Air Max models of the past. A few key descriptions stood out as inspiration: sleek. Reductive. Minimalist. The Air Max unit had to be lighter and more flexible than previous models. When Nike designers began conceptualising this sleeker unit, one source came from an unlikely place: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-air-max-scorpion-official-images-release-date" target="null">Air Max Scorpion</a>. Released in 2021, it was maximalist in the truest sense, featuring an enormous unit shaped by ambitious proportions. It was the largest unit ever created in terms of volume of Air per square inch. One observation stood out from designing the Scorpion bag: its emphasis on a term called "point loading". This is when each area of cushioning is precisely mapped against the entirety of your foot, comfortably spreading your bodyweight out on certain points of the bag. Each part of the Air unit can have a different stiffness or softness.&nbsp;

"Scorpion gave the team a good starting point", says Wade Flanagan, director of Nike Air Innovation. "We learned new techniques that could help us tune the bag for flexibility across different zones. Comparing the Scorpion bag to Liquid Max, we wanted to make something lighter, more flexible, more minimalist, but just as responsive".But cutting the bags to achieve this effect is complicated, says Flanagan. Each Air bag almost has a mind of its own because of how it can change in the slightest of circumstances. Trimming each one perfectly, he says, is like hitting a moving target.

The silhouette's name shifted to Liquid Max for good reason: the unit had to move with a undetectably smooth transition, like liquid. One of the designers' early prototypes used a modified version of the Air Max Dn8's Air units, a row of pressurised tubes across the full length of the foot. To create a more contoured system that worked with the foot, and to reduce the number of parts in the shoe, designers experimented with different versions of a drop-in midsole.Some prototypes of the Air unit were more organic. Others were more industrial. Some shapes tried turning visual details into mechanical advantages. Could a sly spelling of "Air Max" on the outsole create a trampoline-like effect through the middle of the letters? The possibilities were wide open. Testing wasn't limited to the physical world, either. A digital method called Finite Element Analysis, or FEA, helped designers simulate the real-life forces of a person walking in the shoe, putting pressure on different regions of the unit and then measuring how it responded.&nbsp;

This testing through trial and error helped designers and engineers land on a beautiful, two-chambered, full-length Air unit design. Maybe its most noticeable shift from Air units of the past was also its most challenging on a technical level: cutting out inserts in the bag; coring out unnecessary parts in the middle; and moulding it in a curved, rockered shape to make it more minimalist. Trimming a unit this complicated inside and out, on a curve? It hadn't been done before. It would require a more precise kind of Air manufacturing.&nbsp;

The Liquid Max team began working closely with the technicians at Nike's Air Manufacturing Innovation (Air MI) facilities in Beaverton, Oregon. There was basically no margin for error. Cut the bag at a poor angle, and the bag can pop. Cut it too wide, and you leave behind messy, awkward flanges around the perimeter. A dynamic ingredient like Air is also highly sensitive to the environment around it, meaning the bag can change shape in an instant based on the indoor temperature, resulting in inconsistent sizes. Air unit manufacturing is the equivalent of baking the world's coolest soufflé.

The final version of the Liquid Max Air unit is what happens when bold creativity meets manufacturing ingenuity. And the strategies employed to make the Air unit go beyond any single shoe."The Liquid Max unit is an example of when our designers, engineers and Air MI technicians set their sight on a challenge and overcome it", says Flanagan. "A lot of that comes from being inspired to challenge limitations and push Air Max to a new place so we can provide new benefits to people who wear it".

Nike Air Liquid Max is the first Max unit to include internal cut-outs. It ushers in an era for the Air Max franchise where precision and complexity go hand in hand.

Explore Nike, Converse and Jordan footwear and apparel design stories featuring Nike Air Force 1, Nike Air Jordan, Nike Air Max and more.

Design

Making it

Less Is Max In the Newest Version of Nike Air

About Nike—stories from inside NIKE, Inc.

For Yao Miao, becoming the "Queen of Trail Running" in China took everything she had. Yao grew up in a small farming village in China's Guizhou Province, the youngest of six daughters. She often helped her parents, working long hours in the rice fields, but even as a child she knew she wanted to pursue a future outside of her rural community. That opportunity came in middle school. Yao left home when she was selected as one of four students from her area to attend a state-run sports school for future elite athletes. The early days were tough. Leaving her family wasn't easy, and she often felt lonely and homesick. Her body struggled to adapt to a kind of training she had never done before. But it was there that she discovered her passion for trail running.Overtime, her natural resilience paid off. She pushed through injuries and setbacks to become Asia's first three-time Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) Finals champion, one of the most celebrated trail-running races in the world.Now, as she joins the ACG <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-acg-all-conditions-racing-department" target="null">All Conditions Racing Department</a>, ACG's roster of elite trail running athletes, Yao looks back on where her journey began, the victories and challenges along the way and how her ACG partnership will help reach a new generation of athletes.

My hometown helped shape me into an elite athlete. There are many small mountains, and I played there when I was young, so I grew used to that terrain. That experience helped me become a strong trail runner. I really enjoy running in China's mountain environments, especially running on the Great Wall.It's important to know that you don't have to reach your goals immediately. At sport school, I focused mainly on running and was part of an organised team. But after graduating in 2016, I was not chosen to join a professional team or university. So, I started working. I handed out flyers at a gym, then I helped my sister at her makeup shop. I felt lost. I wasn't training like an athlete anymore.I wasn't interested in anything but running. Eventually, that rejection was motivating for me. I had the opportunity to enter a trail race. While I didn't finish, that failure to finish made me feel I needed to come back to trail running. My goal was to become the best trail runner of all time. I made up my mind to keep working and continue racing. I believed I could succeed and I wanted to prove it.One of my most challenging races was in 2019 at UTMB. During the 168km run, I had a period where I lost my vision. I was racing so much that my body couldn't bear the strain of so many competitions. I couldn't finish the race, and the organisers asked me to quit. I was very nervous because I worried I might never see again and not be able to return to trail running. The vision loss was only temporary, but I felt like I was losing confidence in the sport.

Getting my footing in trail running took time, but that journey was so rewarding. After my first championship in 2018, I knew I had the talent and motivation to become an elite trail runner. I kept chasing another win but couldn't seem to get one. I struggled in 2019 with several DNFs and stopped racing in 2020. But I still had this intense passion for the sport, so I came back in 2023. I finally won again in 2024, the OCC-UTMB, which was my most satisfying victory. I was back! The hard work paid off, and I felt like I could finally move forward.For me, the most important mindset is love for the sport. I've faced many challenges, but because I love trail running, I've been able to keep going and become who I am today.

I want trail runners to think about how their actions affect the environment. Trail running is becoming popular very quickly. However, many runners still don't think enough about protecting their environment. I encourage runners to care for the outdoors and our planet—stay on marked trails, carry out their trash properly, respect the wildlife. Protecting these spaces is part of being a responsible runner. I know it's not easy to educate everyone, but I can start with myself and help model good behaviour. Last year, I helped organise events focused on environmental protection and I hope, in the future, more people will join me.I know how much I can do with ACG to build my dream and support the next generation. I'm proud to launch the Nike-supported "Boundless Girls with Yao Miao" initiative that will help more girls in many Chinese primary and secondary schools access sports. I want to inspire teenage girls who grow up in underdeveloped areas like I did to find their confidence and know that the world is vast. Sport has the power to open new doors for them.

Her rise from rural China to three‑time UTMB Finals champion—and now member of the ACG All Conditions Racing Department—is a story of endurance, belief and relentless dedication to the sport.

For the win

Trail Runner Yao Miao Is Running Down New Goals With ACG

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Story Landing

Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/cameron-strand-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Cameron Strand</a> Two world records broken. Nike athlete <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-profile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon</a>'s 1500m WR, forecast last week during her <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/topics/breaking4" target="_blank">#Breaking4 attempt</a>, and Beatrice Chebet's 5000m WR. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/pre-classic-bowerman-mile" target="_blank">New national records set</a>. Personal bests across the board. All in front of a sold-out crowd at Eugene's Hayward Field, a venue considered sacred ground in the world of athletics. The 50th anniversary of the Pre Classic was every bit worthy of the meet's namesake, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/how-steve-prefontaine-set-the-pace-for-nike" target="_blank">legendary runner Steve Prefontaine</a>, and the images below show what fans of this sport have always known: For witnessing drama, suspense, electric energy and endless passion, there is nothing better than the athlete magic of athletics.

The drama, suspense, energy and passion—if you're not yet a fan of athletics, you're about to become one.

Incredible scenes from the 50th anniversary of the Pre Classic

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/davis-jones-senior-editor" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Davis Jones</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/cameron-strand-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Cameron Strand</a>To fully understand the look on Niels Laros's face after narrowly clinching this year's Bowerman Mile in Eugene, you have to go back to the ringing of the bell lap, when he still trailed the race leader, American Yared Nuguse, by more than three seconds.In front of a sold-out crowd in Eugene, Ore. at the 50th&nbsp;Pre Classic, the 20-year-old Dutch runner tapped into his own brand of Hayward magic. He separated himself from the chase pack with 400m to go. Then, at the final 200m mark, he took off for Nuguse, running an unthinkable 25.9 second split and making up an almost 8-metre gap in the home straight. The two racers lunged at the finishing line. A few seconds later, Laros saw the official time, wearing a look of disbelief: 3:45.94. He'd won the Bowerman Mile by one-one-hundredth of a second and set a new Dutch national record. His final lap—53.3—was one of the fastest fourth laps since the United Kingdom's Steve Cram broke the world record in 1985."Man, that Hayward magic is real", says Laros. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime feeling to experience a race like that".For 25 years, the Bowerman Mile has brought together the world's most talented milers, assembling pros, world champions and Olympic medallists. The event is one of four premier mile races left in the world: the Dream Mile in Oslo, the Wanamaker Mile in New York City and&nbsp;&nbsp;the Mile Invitational in Iowa. Of those, it's produced more sub-4-minute miles than any other race, counting 418 such performances to date, including this year's race in Eugene.&nbsp;Speaking of which, the 2025 race was arguably the deepest mile race in history, featuring the most men in one race under 3:50 (13), 3:49 (9) and 3:48 (8).What makes the Bowerman Mile stand apart? Fast times don't always correlate to a fast track. The latter can be an immeasurable mix of qualities tied to time, place and circumstances, leading to generational performances. But talk to anyone who's competed in the race and they'll tell you there's something different about the Bowerman Mile.&nbsp;

The competitive field

Year after year, the Bowerman Mile draws a stacked line-up, assembled of reigning world champions and record holders. Since 2000, it's taken a time of 3:51.84 or faster to win the event. The race's buy-in is all the more impressive considering that its results don't count towards points at the end of the pro circuit, even though it's classified as a Diamond League meet.A runner who always circles the date of the Bowerman Mile is Australia's Cam Myers, who finished sixth this year and set an Australian under-20 record with 3:47.50. In 2023, at just 16 years old, Myers ran as a pacemaker for Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who clocked the Bowerman Mile's fastest-ever time in 3:43.73, setting a European and Diamond League record."We all want to win this race in particular", says Myers. "It's intensely competitive, and it's the perfect environment for fast times".Whether or not a record falls at the Bowerman Mile, each year's race teases out greatness in every runner, carrying the makings of a personal best.

Grant Fisher, who holds the American record in the 2-mile distance, ran his first Bowerman Mile this year, laying down a 3:48.29. The race is a self-fulfilling prophecy, he says. When racers know they are surrounded by a fast field, they all raise their game. Plus, the Bowerman Mile is almost always rabbited, or led by a pacemaker. Runners know they'll get wrenched to their physical thresholds. Once the pacemaker drops out, there's no time to think. Just go."We all know the pacer is going to take us deep into the race", Fisher says. "When the pacer drops, the field is of such high quality that these amazing times just keep rolling".

Consider one of the Bowerman Mile's most memorable performances—when Alan Webb, then a secondary school student from Virginia, broke the national secondary school mile record set by Jim Ryun, which had stood for 37 years. The pacemaker took the first 409 metres at a searing 54.6, equivalent to a mile pace of 3:34.8.At the race's halfway mark, Webb had moved up from last place to 13th. The pace was brutal and yet, with 400m to go, Webb remembers how his body felt loose, light and capable of much, much more. He began picking runners off on the back straight. His turnover cycled with a power that outlasted men a decade older, who had competed for medals, who had set national records.&nbsp;"Sometimes, the stars align in a race, and I knew this was one of those moments", says Webb, recalling the moment. "When I got to that bell lap, I was able to find something in myself. Running the Bowerman Mile has that effect on people".

The historic location

The grandeur of the former Hayward Field, with its wooden grandstands and its Bowerman Building as the sentinel watching from the track's eastern end, is different from how a spectator would describe the view from the updated stadium—a colossal venue built for the modern age. Webb remembers while he was barrelling down the back straight in 2001 how the extreme slope of the west grandstands gave the feeling that the fans "were right on top of you". The passion and knowledge of the fans sitting in those seats rivals any location in athletics.&nbsp;

"Even before Prefontaine, Oregon had a history of domestic milers who were very, very good; people like James Bailey, Dyrol Burleson and Jim Grelle back in the Bowerman coaching days", says Pat Tyson, who ran for the University of Oregon in the early '70s, where he was roommates with Pre himself.&nbsp;&nbsp;"The mile always had a cachet among fans here, even before the Bowerman Mile officially began".

Hayward Field is a place where fans take on the role of engaged sports scientist versus passive spectator. They'll set their personal stopwatches to the smoke of the gun and scribble a runner's splits in the margins of their programme.&nbsp;Kaarin Knudson knows. She ran for UO's athletics & cross-country team from 1994 to 1999. A seven-time NCAA qualifier who won the NCAA's Woman of the Year for Oregon in her senior season, she now serves as the mayor of Eugene. Her experience as a civic leader and a former athlete gives her a uniquely personal view on what makes Eugene's passion for athletics so special.

"I have distinct memories while at UO of going on my easy runs and being stopped by community members, people I didn't know; they'd congratulate me on a race I ran the previous weekend", says Knudson. "When you're an athlete, it's motivating to be surrounded by a community who both root for you on race day and who recognise you when you're 'offstage', so to speak".Few competitors benefit from the Hayward energy quite like those who ran for UO during their college years—runners like Cole Hocker, who's run his top three fastest mile times at the Pre Classic. During his rookie season in 2022, he donned the Nike kit in front of his home crowd for the first time at the Bowerman Mile. This year, he improved his personal best to 3:47.43."Every time I get the chance to run at Hayward, I remind myself to appreciate the moment, just because of the history that has happened there before me", says Hocker.&nbsp;

The special distance

The mile and its cousin, the 1500m, are separated by a little more than 100m. Depending on who you ask, the difference in how you run the mile compared with the 1500m is marginal. Webb jokes that you're basically doing the same event, but the mile comes down to "who's willing to suffer a little longer". Others, like Laros, say the tactical game of the mile is slightly different from the 1500m. For him, the main difference comes from the start.&nbsp;"Because you're starting on the opening curve in the mile, you have less time to figure out your position before you need to tuck into the right spot", says Laros. "You basically have to get shot out of a cannon and find a good slot so you're not sorting it out on the corner and running a little extra distance".The cultural power of the mile gives it a revered place in the consciousness of running, along with the marathon. Both are niche distances in athletics, yet still count for world records.&nbsp;The wonder of the mile might come down to its clean simplicity. Four laps. Taking the laps at one minute a piece add up to four minutes, considered the standard for the elite miler. The starting line is in roughly the same place as the finish. The same fans who cheer on the field at the gun are the same who cheer at the finish.&nbsp;

One could argue that the mile distance, in fact, was the spark that lit Bill Bowerman's fascination with long-distance running performance. As a freshman at Oregon playing American football, he met Ralph Hill, the first elite miler he befriended at the university. One day, Bowerman ran 400m around the track at an all-out sprint to test his speed. The clock read 63 seconds. Bill Hayward, UO's track coach, leaned over and smirked. "Just so you know", he said, "Ralph goes that fast for four laps".

Its relative scarcity at the professional level adds to the distance's mythical status. Pro runners don't get many opportunities to compete in the mile. You might get a couple of shots at it per year, between Eugene, Oslo and New York City."You can jump into plenty of 1500m races during the year. But it's no guarantee you'll get into one of these mile races on the pro circuit", says Webb. "That's assuming you're healthy when your name gets called. If you get a chance at the mile, you better put it all on the line".That motivation fuels every competitor in the Bowerman Mile. From the young racer who's travelling to Eugene for the first time, to the seasoned pro who wants to assert their world ranking, the Bowerman Mile summons a kind of communal willpower. For Laros, participation among those four laps, holding nothing back, is a rare privilege, one that can be tough to describe. Ironically, sometimes a fast time takes a backseat to the opportunity to step onto that 1609m starting line."Winning this race meant even more to me than setting the national record", he says. "Obviously, running a fast time gives me a lot of pride, but taking the win here, at this place, was what I'm most proud of".

The Bowerman Mile at the Pre Classic has produced more sub-4:00 times than any event in the world. Here's what makes it so fast.

Inside the world's fastest mile race

Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a>Wherever you were watching Faith Kipyegon take to the track to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-athlete-faith-kipyegon-breaks-mile-record-time" target="_blank">break the 4-minute mile</a>—in standing-room-only crowds of employees at Nike's worldwide campuses, at watch parties in Chicago, Los Angeles, Eldoret, Kenya, on digital billboards in New York City, London and Mexico City, or gripping the edge of your seat inside Stade Charléty in Paris—the emotions of <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/topics/breaking4" target="_blank">Breaking4</a> were palpable: excitement, nervousness, elation, pride.The images below reflect every feeling and show what athletics fans have always known: Faith Kipyegon is a champion. The team at Nike knows it too."I feel so proud of myself that I've tried", Faith said post-attempt. "Today was a learning lesson, that I have to give it my all, and that's what I did—&nbsp;I gave it my all. And it's shown me that everything is possible, and I think I've shown other women out there that can be true for them too. We have to push ourselves towards what we dream of and dare to try".Faith, we can't wait to see, and support, what you dare to try next.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Go trackside to see and feel the emotion from the champion's historic attempt.

Behind the scenes of Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 attempt day

From the moment Faith Kipyegon broke the women's mile world record in Monaco in 2023, there was a palpable energy in the air, a sense that something bigger was beginning.&nbsp;As Nike Footwear Innovation Lead Carrie Dimoff puts it, "I'll never forget the feeling in the stadium. It was electric. Everyone was amazed but already starting to wonder: could this be the beginning of the sub-4-minute mile for women?" You could call that the start of Breaking4. But the essence of Faith Kipyegon and Nike's project is more timeless: showing all athletes* that barriers are meant to be pushed and dreams meant to be big. Says Faith, "I get motivated by thinking of what I can achieve, the boundaries I can break and how I can empower the next generation. You can't limit yourself. You have to go for that dream. I want to show women especially that anything is possible".Here, a visual chronicle of Faith and Nike's Breaking4 journey—and clear evidence of the power of daring to try. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.

A visual reflection on the shared goal—inspiring all athletes to dream big and break barriers—between the world's fastest woman miler and Nike.

Feature

The Breaking4 journey: Faith Kipyegon and Nike's unforgettable project

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/davis-jones-senior-editor" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Davis Jones</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/dan-vernon-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Dan Vernon</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a> At its core, Breaking4—<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon's project with Nike</a> to run a sub-4-minute mile—has always been about heart and belief. That's what's powering Kipyegon, alongside <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-breaking4-speed-kit-behind-the-design" target="_blank">cutting-edge Nike performance products</a>. But don't think for a second—certainly not the 7.65 seconds Kipyegon needs to shave off her world-record mile time—that&nbsp;Nike didn't consider hundreds of other factors to get Kipyegon across the line in a time starting with a "3".To complement and amplify Kipyegon's bespoke products—including a one-of-one Nike Fly Suit, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">a revolutionary FlyWeb Bra</a> and a first of its kind Victory 2 Elite FK Spike—<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/meet-the-dream-team-behind-faith-kipyegon-s-breaking4-attempt" target="_blank">the Breaking4 team</a> fine-tuned the attempt's aerodynamics and efficiency. Preparation and location. Weather and, well, vibes. Each of these points contain smaller details that the Nike Innovation team scrutinised from every angle, all in an effort to nail a perfectly orchestrated approach with Kipyegon. Dive into 10 of the ways Nike offered its support.

<h3>1. Let Faith be Faith </h3>Faith Kipyegon isn't toeing the line for Breaking4 as merely an elite runner. She's built a case as one of the greatest middle-distance runners of all time. She's the current world-record holder across three distances. Her three gold medals in the 1,500 metres span almost a decade and counting. There are intangibles too. She has her training preferences perfectly tuned. She understands her own athleticism like a driver knows their racing car. Nike's role in Breaking4 wasn't to reset Kipyegon, but to add to the capabilities of an already historic runner.

<h3>2. Instil confidence</h3>In the beginning of Breaking4 strategising, the Innovation team debated the trajectory of Kipyegon's 1-mile racecourse. What if the path was a straight, like in a road race? Remove all the curves, and ensure a pacing formation could be linear instead of skewed for left turns? ﻿When the team shared this with Kipyegon, she was vocal: She'd feel more confident and comfortable running on a track, where she'd built her entire professional career on reading the eight lanes, tuning her focus to the inside rail."Whether it was a feature of the racecourse, her pacer formation or a detail in her apparel, building her confidence meant everything to us", says Amy Jones Vaterlaus, VP, Innovation, NSRL. "We listened to her intently. We watched for cues she'd give off, maybe without even realising it. Ensuring she can move freely, without distraction, is just one more way we can help build her confidence".

<h3>3. Choose the right time of year</h3>Kipyegon's professional schedule weighed heavily in choosing the month for the attempt. If she's to peak in mid September during the World Championships in Tokyo, she has to give her body the ideal window of time for training periodisation, or the scaling of her preparation to leave her feeling ready to go. The optimal timing: late June.

<h3>4. Game the weather</h3>﻿Weather conditions on race day can be the dealbreaker for achieving fast times. Heat, wind and rain can all put an additional load on an athlete. Too much heat is a thermal burden that leads to overexertion. Too much wind—and around a track, there will always be a headwind at a certain point—creates drag forces that slow runners down. Weather doesn't come on demand, of course, and the Nike team knew the ideal geographic location of the attempt would need to cross off as many criteria as possible: zero rain, less than 12km/hr wind, moderate temperatures.

<h3>5. Minimise the jet lag</h3>﻿Anyone who flies internationally can attest to the physical and mental toil from zooming through time zones, leaving you sluggish and fatigued. Your body has a circadian rhythm, an internal clock, that prompts you to wake up and go to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of that time period is the bioenergetic sweet spot, when you feel most energised, or, in Kipyegon's case, most physically capable. That made finding the right area of the world for the attempt paramount for Breaking4. Minimising a shift in time zones would help keep Kipyegon's body clock from feeling out of whack."We knew she couldn't arrive feeling drained", says Jones Vaterlaus. "Paris having a time zone of one-hour difference from Kenya was a much easier decision than, say, somewhere in the United States, where Faith's jet lag would be significant".

<h3>6. Fine-tune the details</h3>A track isn't an inert surface. It possesses levels of responsiveness that can leave a runner's legs feeling fresh, or it can be firm and dampening, diffusing the precious energy that a runner puts into the ground. Texture matters too. Its grittiness can be well-suited, or not at all, for traction as a runner digs into the turns. For Breaking4, the Nike Innovation team ordered swatches of 10 track surfaces from around the world, sampling from different stadiums, to find the composition ideal for Kipyegon's performance, which included considerations like Kipyegon's bodyweight and stride rate."Our footwear solution for Faith was built on studying the interaction between Faith's foot and the ground", says Carrie Dimoff, senior manager for innovation footwear. "Our formula had to consider the track surface she'll be running on, and the properties the surface does or doesn't carry. While we were still landing on the location, we were able to test our spike prototypes on the exact track surface so we could evaluate energy return and traction effectiveness".

<h3>7. Find the ideal stadium</h3>The team knew Kipyegon wanted to compete on a track to stay true to the historical spirit of her sport. That left Nike's Innovation team with the crucial decision of which track. A track where a runner has pre-existing history can give them the comfort they need to lay down a fast time. One of these options was in Monaco, where Kipyegon broke the mile world record in 2023. The team also considered Eugene, Ore. In 2023, Kipyegon stepped onto Hayward Field and cruised to a Diamond League title in the 1,500 metres while setting a Prefontaine Classic meet record. In the end, the team decided on Stade Charléty in Paris, where Kipyegon ran her world-record times in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres. "I absolutely think there's special energy at this track", says Kipyegon. I have beautiful memories in Paris, breaking the 5,000 world record, breaking the 1,500 world record there. And now we are going for this special one, and I think the track will bring good results".

<h3>8. Perfect a pacer strategy</h3>﻿Nike's previous moonshot attempt, Breaking2, was a grand lesson in pacing strategy and aerodynamics. Nailing the drafting formation for Breaking4 would be one of the key elements to give Kipyegon the best chance to go sub-4. To help reduce the drag on Kipyegon, the Nike team considered countless pacer configurations, experimenting with the number of runners, the balance between men and women, and the geometry of the formation itself. They also thought about whether to introduce new pacers during the attempt. The upshot? Disruptions can make the smoothness of drafting go haywire; the choice to switch in runners midway through a lap can create micro-undulations in the air frequency, disturbing Kipyegon's speed."Creating a low-air-pressure pocket for Faith requires total synchrony among all the pacers in the formation", says Kirby. "Experimenting with different formations is a lot like rearranging the pieces on a chess board. The timing needs to be right, the group positioning needs to be right, and the relationship between any single pacer to Faith needs to be right".

<h3>9. Pump up the colour</h3>Colour choice has the psychological power to motivate an athlete to reach her highest potential. Though the Nike Innovation team used little colour in the Nike Fly Suit—one reason was that doing so would affect the aerodynamic properties of the material—the suit's Nike Aeronodes are in a colour-shifting purple, a nod to Kipyegon's favourite colour. The stadium itself will be awash in purple, covering the stands, the jumbotron and the signage around the track. At literally every turn, Kipyegon will see the colour that motivates her. Beyond the race-day environment, Kipyegon's Nike Running Collection is also rooted in purple. The collection, which includes footwear and apparel, is paired with accents of red and green, representing her Kenyan heritage. And on Kipyegon's Victory Elite FK Spike, gold accents denote her gold medal victories.

<h3>10. Give her all the Nike advantages</h3>The Innovation team gave Kipyegon the full gamut of Nike tools during her training leading up to the attempt. Some are at the modern edge of athlete-recovery methodology, such as <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/hyperboot-by-nike-hyperice-official-images" target="_blank">Nike's Hyperice boots</a>, a heat and air-compression massage tool. Others, such as Nike's <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-vomero-plus-vomero-premium-official-images" target="_blank">new Vomero Premium shoe</a>, were ideal for recovery runs or long mileage. Then there were the innovations that were expedited so Kipyegon could benefit from their advantages before and during the race. Nike FlyWeb, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">a new 3D-printed material used for </a>Kipyegon's <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/nike-new-performance-material-flyweb" target="_blank">sports bra</a>, was moved forward in its production cycle for Kipyegon to train in it. "This attempt is the first time Nike FlyWeb will be tested on the world stage, and in a one-of-one bra", says Janett Nichol, VP of Apparel Innovation. "Faith gave us a rare opportunity: she would not only wear it, she'd help us evolve it".

When she takes to the starting line, in every way, Kipyegon will represent Nike's latest and greatest.

Speed suit, sports bra, spikes, focus. Here, other essential factors Nike considered to give Faith Kipyegon the best support for Breaking4.

Innovation

10 details Nike obsessed over to support Faith Kipyegon and Breaking4

When Marquis Mills Converse founded his eponymous company in 1908 in Boston, Mass., his mission was to create an operation that functioned independent of the industry's monopolies, rooted in a community of the best rubber shoemakers. His first products were galoshes and waterproof winter boots, which meant demand for his wares dipped in warmer seasons. To keep his highly skilled craftspeople occupied year-round, Converse needed a summer offering. A canvas tennis shoe with a rubber sole debuted in 1910, but the company's true breakthrough didn't come until it saw an opportunity to apply its signature innovations to a sneaker expressly designed for a then-newfangled local sport: basketball.Invented in 1891 in nearby Springfield, Mass., basketball was growing in popularity and being adopted by regional colleges when Converse introduced its "Non-Skid" shoe in 1917, defining the design as the "All-American basket-ball shoe". It was crafted on the company's original dress shoe last with two-piece quarter for superior ankle fit and paired with a non-skid sole that employed Converse's patented diamond-tread pattern.&nbsp;

The sneaker was first marketed to the area's coaches, who provided Converse with constructive feedback, including noting that they'd prefer a darker canvas upper because the light tan hue revealed too many scuffs and dings. In response, the company created a dark brown version of the Non-Skid, featuring black trim up the eye row. The iteration was officially branded the "All Star" in 1919, kicking off a new round of basketball-specific innovations that came to characterise the silhouette as the leading performance basketball shoe of the next half-century.As for the shoe's namesake, Chuck Taylor (aka Charles Hollis Taylor), he arrived a few years later.

True to its name, the Chuck Taylor All Star was worn by basically every top basketball player pre-1965. These athletes included players competing on the world's biggest stage in 1936, when Converse equipped the US men's basketball team with white Chucks featuring red and blue stripes on their foxing tape. The custom version was such a hit that competing teams adopted it, and the colourway was permanently added to the product line. In 1939, America's first national college basketball championship featured players in Chucks. In 1962, basketball's professional single-game scoring record&nbsp;of 100&nbsp;points was made in Chucks. In 1971, Chucks debuted in team colours, allowing teams to match their kit to their shoes for the first time. Chucks was basketball, and basketball was Chucks.

A 1922–23 catalogue detailing the performance merits and evolution of the Converse All Star.

Chuck Taylor, a Converse salesman and player-coach for the Converse All Star basketball team in the early 1920s.

Chuck Taylor, the man, coaching a basketball clinic in the 1950s in Chucks.

Converse Non-Skid All Stars, circa 1923, a later version of the original design, which debuted in 1917.

A Converse athletic footwear catalogue from 1957, the year the low-top Chuck was released.

As it turns out, the performance innovations that made the Chuck a great basketball design also made it a great skateboarding shoe.

Skateboarding debuted in mid-century California as "sidewalk surfing", a pastime for when the waves were flat. The low-top Chuck, which came out in 1957, was already a favourite of these "beach boys" and perfectly adapted to the new street sport, thanks to its underfoot cushioning, grippy rubber and form-fitting canvas upper.

Over 50 years later, the Chuck retains its foundational status in skate and with its top athletes—even as the sport has moved from the street to the world's premier competitions and into its leading museums. In 2023, the Design Museum in London hosted "Skateboard",&nbsp;the exhibition arm of a multimedia project that also included <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.phaidon.com/store/design/skateboard-9781838667498/" target="null">a book</a> created in collaboration with curator Jonathan Olivares, Converse and Phaidon, chronicling the countercultural design history of skateboarding.

A 1975 "sidewalk surfer" sporting laid-back, high-performance Chucks.

Ad for the 1988 Rad Collection, which comprised one-of-a-kind high-top Chucks and T-shirts.

The 2023 "Skateboard" exhibition at the Design Museum in London cemented the Chuck's status in skate and design.

Converse CONS team rider Bryce Wettstein wears Chucks when riding competitively and casually.

"Skateboard" explores the design, materials, culture and history of skateboarding.

The Chuck's simple, no-frills style also reflects skate's democratic, live-on-your-own-terms DNA—which has taken it everywhere.

Tyler, the Creator says it well: "I'm from LA, and I grew up with skateboarders. [The Chuck Taylor] is a very staple shoe in that lifestyle". The Chuck bridged skate and music in the '90s and early noughties, but the shoe's musical roots stretch back to artists topping Billboard charts in the '50s and '60s. These global stars wore the silhouette everywhere: on stages from California to England, crossing Penny Lane, traversing the beaches of Hawthorne and strolling the streets of Haight-Ashbury.

Over the decades, the Chuck has collected a roster of musical artists that rivals a legacy record label's list and spans all genres, from punk, alternative and grunge to hip-hop, indie rock and pop. It has also cemented its place in recording studios, on album covers and at global music festivals, even infiltrating classical music halls. In 2018, when the conductor Jonathon Heyward forgot his formal shoes for an orchestra performance, he wore his red Chucks onstage, nearly upstaging the concert. "Being able to find a sense of relatability within classical music is something that I am really passionate about, and Chuck Taylors are incredible barrier breakers", explains Heyward, who is music & artistic director of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, and music director at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. "By simply wearing a pair of Chuck Taylors to my concert, I become more relatable—and people's openness becomes greater when there is that sense of relatability. The walls go down and I can take them on a journey, which is what classical music is and what a live classical music performance is about".

As a cultural bellwether of mid-century America, the Chuck couldn't ignore colour. First introduced for basketball-centric reasons, the rainbow of hues also made a statement by breaking down colour barriers on court and off, celebrating diversity and championing self-expression in all forums.

From primary tones came endless prints and motifs, with the '80s debuting camouflage and animal and glitter treatments along with checkerboard, strike and glow-in-the-dark patterns. New materials, heights and shapes followed, evolving the Chuck from a signifier of specific subcultures to a customisable badge for those independent enough not to follow—and for an ever-evolving roster of collaborators.

It all began in 1934 with Disney, Converse's first brand partnership, which defined Chucks as the first shoes to feature Mickey Mouse. Despite this high-profile launch, it wasn't until the late noughties that collaboration became a central element of the Chuck. The 2008 Converse 1HUND(RED) Artists Collection commissioned 100 global musicians, graphic designers and graffiti artists to use the Chuck as a canvas on which to express their support of the fight against AIDS, empowering the community for a cause and unleashing a dam of creativity. The stream of joint creations has remained steady, including signature contributions from the brand's longest-standing collaborator, Comme des Garçons (CDG) PLAY.

Converse's 1934 partnership with Disney defined the Chuck as the first shoe to feature Mickey Mouse.

By 1977, Chuck Taylor All Stars were available in a spectrum of colours—as this athletic footwear catalogue reveals.

Replicas of Andy Warhol's Chucks were part of the Dover Street Market 2024 exhibition "Andy Warhol: Social Disease".

Custom chandelier featuring black Chucks. Photograph by Ryan Stifler.

In 2015, the Chuck 70 became part of the Converse x PLAY Comme des Garçons  
collaboration.

The 2024 Chuck 70 De Luxe Squared embellished the Chuck with Swarovski crystals.

The instant, persistent popularity of the Converse x PLAY Comme des Garçons partnership confirmed what had been apparent for decades: the Chuck effortlessly resides in high-fashion spheres, whose leading visionaries grew up with the shoe, influenced by its anti-conformist ethos and customisable style. As fashion designer Rick Owens put it, "When I think of Converse, I think of the black and white Chuck Taylors and the punk rock generation. These have always been iconic pillars of my aesthetic".As the noughties wore on and digital media democratised access to the fashion world, the Chuck cemented its status in this once-rarefied yet open-minded world. It graced runways in both original and bespoke forms at the same time as it populated the pages of glossies and appeared in street-style snaps from global fashion weeks.

In 2021, Rick Owens reimagined the Chuck 70 as the TURBODRK Chuck 70. Photo by OWENSCORP.

Marc Jacobs outfitted models in Chucks for his iconic 1992 Perry Ellis "Grunge" collection.

Lila Moss in Converse x Isabel Marant Chuck 70 Ox sneakers, part of a collaborative 2025 collection.

The 2012 Converse Made in Maine boot reimagined the Chuck, nodding to its rich American heritage.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sporting Chucks in a 2025 NBA Tunnel Walk.

The Converse x Feng Chen Wang 2-in-1 Chuck 70, inspired by the designer's Chinese heritage.

Deeply entwined in the fabric of global culture, the Chuck has likewise witnessed a myriad of historical moments, adorned the feet of diverse history-makers and embedded itself into the greater societal landscape.

At the Soweto Township in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015, a traditional Zulu dancer performs in Chucks.

An ad from the Converse 1990 All You Need campaign placed Chucks on the Berlin Wall.

In Beyoğlu, Turkey, Chucks are carefully preserved in a pickle jar. Photo by Aytekin Gezici.

Converse's ongoing support of self-expression was on display at the 2024 Boston Pride Parade.

Chucks at The Town Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2023. Photo by Cauê Paciornik.

As its endless iterations prove, the Chuck could likely claim the title of the most customised sneaker in history. It has been splatter-painted and Sharpied; adorned with badges, pins and spikes; embroidered and cross-stitched; inverted. Like a fingerprint, each expression reflects its creator's unique creativity. As confirmed by Converse All Star Rocco Montagnoli Bruzzone. "Chucks have helped me express myself and my individuality since I was a child, when I used to sketch on them. Now, I wear a clean pair of Chucks to my meetings".

Recognising the powerful relationship a one-of-a-kind Chuck fosters with its wearer, the brand introduced limited-edition offerings&nbsp;as far back as 1988, via mail-order catalogue. Next came hyper-local Chuck collections, such as Lunar New Year and City Packs. Often made in collaboration with local creators, these city-exclusive designs weave the distinct cultural weft of their locale into the Chuck's signature form. In 2015, Converse further evolved its personalisation platform with the introduction of Converse By You, a digital design programme that reached new heights with the record-breaking 2024 Converse By You x Billie Eilish collaboration—all in an effort to bring creators closer to their Chucks.

And that's just the first century.

The shoe's journey from afterthought to global icon defies convention, which begins to explain why the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star has served as a talisman of self-expression for multiple generations, subcultures and genres: It has never tried to fit in.

Journey of an icon: the history of the Chuck Taylor All Star

Words: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/rachel-cavanaugh-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Rachel Cavanaugh</a> Images: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/dan-vernon-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Dan Vernon</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/sofieke-van-bilsen-contributing-photographer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Sofieke van Bilsen</a>

The boldest ideas don't begin with guarantees. They begin with a dream—and an audacious commitment to make it real. That's exactly how Nike FlyWeb, the company's newest performance material, came to life. The first-of-its-kind 3D-printing innovation was born through years of experimentation and a resolve to do what had never been done before.&nbsp;Nike FlyWeb represents a radical shift in how performance apparel is made and what it can feel like.Unlike traditional athletic apparel, which is typically knit or woven from yarn, FlyWeb is made from TPU—a soft, pliable polymer—and 3D-printed to form the desired product.&nbsp;Three-dimensional printing is nothing new for the footwear industry or Nike. "This is, however, the first time Nike has applied the manufacturing method to high-performance sports apparel for an athlete", says Janett Nichol, Nike VP of innovation.&nbsp;

"What works on a shoe doesn't just translate to something you wear on your body", she explains. "It took years of re-engineering—not just the materials but the design approach itself—to make FlyWeb feel soft, breathable and beautiful enough for apparel".The first product Nike design teams chose to tackle in the new material? One that hasn't changed in material form since its inception: the bra.The Nike FlyWeb Bra is an ode to minimalism. The FlyWeb material is one single, seamless layer, built through computational design so that Nike designers could control the fit and support down to the millimetre, adjusting density, airflow and stretch across different zones of the garment."We had to re-engineer everything—dismantling what we knew, then putting it back together—to make it wearable next to skin", says Nichol.

The result is something athletes have never felt before. The Nike FlyWeb Bra doesn't just reduce bulk or manage moisture more efficiently. It creates an entire sensory shift. For women athletes, it eliminates the multi-layer barrier found in most sports bras, unlocking airflow and comfort in ways traditional construction simply can't."It's soft. It's light—so light, it feels like you're not wearing anything at all", adds Nichol. "That's the number 1 thing testers tell us: it disappears on your body, yet somehow delivers incredible support".That support doesn't come from compression or layering but rather from the structure itself: the computationally designed pattern is specifically engineered to be denser in areas that need more containment.

Nike FlyWeb fluidly engages when the athlete moves, creating responsive athletic support without relying on seams, straps or extra material. That means pure freedom of movement."You can actually feel the air on your chest", says Nichol. "Most women have never experienced that while running. We don't even think about it because it's just not something we've ever expected to feel".On 26 June, in Paris, Faith Kipyegon will attempt to become the first woman in history to break the 4-minute mile, an effort that's been dubbed "Breaking4". And as she takes to the track for the legacy-defining attempt, she'll be wearing a one-of-a-kind sports bra made from the breakthrough material.

Nike FlyWeb material will debut during Faith Kipyegon's historic attempt to break the 4-minute mile.

Because of its light, breathable design, Faith's Nike FlyWeb Bra will help her body stay cooler during her all-out sprint.

Faith's FlyWeb Bra has a gossamer-soft hand feel and weight that's barely there.

It was her ambition—and the scale of that goal—that helped push Nike FlyWeb from bra prototype to bespoke product."Everyone was a thought partner; we really put our heads together", says Lisa Gibson, senior product manager, apparel innovation. "And when you have a team working in synergy, believing in Faith and this moment, that's when things start to magically unlock. It's that Nike magic".

FlyWeb's debut isn't only a material milestone. It's the start of a new era in how performance apparel is made.What began as a moonshot of its own—an experiment to reimagine how we think about apparel—quickly accelerated into a breakthrough once Kipyegon's goal came into view.&nbsp;"We knew that it was an opportunity for us to look at what we had in our arsenal and what we could really use to help her break this goal", says Nichol. "We realised a gift had been dropped in our laps and it was up to us to rise to the moment".Now&nbsp;that the material is here, its potential is beginning to unfold.&nbsp;"We're just scratching the surface", says Nichol. "This is a true unlock, not just for bras but for how we design and build high-performance apparel going forward. It opens the door to entirely new ideas for how athletes experience sport through what they wear".

Featherweight, soft and breathable, Nike FlyWeb—a first-of-its-kind 3D-printing innovation—is a sports material like no other.

The future of performance apparel is here

Erin Wallace rounded the 600-metre mark on the back stretch in Xiamen, China, holding on for dear life. In her periphery, she eyed the blinking blue light at her feet that was attempting to leave her behind.Erin was one of two runners who were pacing <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-profile" target="_blank">world champion Faith Kipyegon</a> for the 1,000 metres in April's Diamond League meet. Pacers, or rabbits, ensure that at least one runner in the field keeps the right pace to break a certain time, usually a record. In this case, Faith was looking to break 2:28.98 in the 1,000 metres, a world record that's stood for 27 years.&nbsp;Erin is familiar with laying down a pinpoint pace. In London in 2024, the 24-year-old Scottish athlete paced the 800 metres for fellow national team runner and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/keely-hodgkinson-wins-gold" target="_blank">Nike athlete Keely Hodgkinson</a>. Peeling off the track after 500 metres, she watched Keely soar around the second lap and break the British national record with a time of 1:54.61.&nbsp;Physically, pacing and racing are interrelated. But mentally, they do have their differences.

<h3>At the gun </h3>An in-between middle distance like the 1,000 metres in Xiamen shows the skilful precision behind every good pacer. Erin's coach, Trevor Painter, suggested she start the race conservatively. The gun sounds; the race begins. In starting as the third runner from the furthest outside lane, she needed to pull ahead of the pack for the first 50 metres. But at the 200-metre mark, she ran 29.4, a shade over the race pace of 28.8. She needed to pick things up. Fast enough? Too fast? Too slow? The internal dialogue rages in a pacer's mind. By the time she rounded the first 400 metres, she clocked a 59.38, nearly even with the blinking light around the track's interior—a light acting as a digital rabbit."In Diamond League meets, you have clocks stationed at every 100-metre mark. But you still need to have an internal physical sense of when to pick things up", says Erin. "Just because you can run a fast time doesn't necessarily mean you can regulate your speed for someone else's time".

<h3>During the race</h3>There's a time on the clock, and there's the clock ticking away in your body,&nbsp;raising the alarm to slow down or speed up. Erin mentions how pacing at different distances can require various levels of awareness. At shorter distances, you're going at a sprint, relying more on the light. Your athletic threshold is the barometer. A longer distance, however, can leave more room for strategic error."You learn to notice both your body and your environment at a high intensity when you're a pacer", says Erin. "You notice your position relative to the field. You notice where the timers are placed in the stadium. You especially notice anything that can disrupt the race, like how your exit impacts the other runners".

<h3>Going for the exit</h3>The final 400 metres, where many pacers will exit as the other runners take the bell lap, can be loaded with potential tripping hazards: the inside rail, the clock, electronic scoreboard equipment. In Erin's case during the Xiamen race, she looked down the last 20 metres of the 600-metre home stretch and realised that things were "looking a little busy down there", referring to a banner advertisement on the ground preventing an easy exit. She'd need to either hurdle it or find an opening about 2 metres past the finishing line and quickly veer off.&nbsp;She managed to find a gap in front of the banner. She shot for the exit and made it—barely.&nbsp;"When you peel off the track", she says, "you want the runner following you to have every detail lined up for them".&nbsp;That was true for Faith, who handily won the 1,000 metres, though narrowly missed beating the world record. She'll take those learnings to her next challenge: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">attempting to break the 4-minute mile in Paris on 26 June</a>.Erin's perspective on Faith's daring: "It's crazy", she says. "When you're running up close with her, like I have this season, you're able to appreciate just how talented she is". Erin adds that she's honoured to play a part in the Breaking4 arc. "Pacing gives you a chance to be part of another runner's story", she says. "Knowing that I can play a role in her path to beat that time is inspiring".

Middle-distance runner Erin Wallace, who paces champions like Faith Kipyegon, breaks down the tactics to help racers hold a pinpoint time.

Fan hub

How a professional runner helps pace for record times

In 1973, two years after the Nike brand was born and the first Swoosh adorned shoes, the nascent footwear company signed its first star runner. The phenomenal Oregon native held multiple American distance records, competed on athletics' greatest stage in Munich in 1972 and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as "America's Distance Prodigy". The prodigy was Steve Prefontaine, America's best-known athlete at age 22. He possessed warrior determination and ran each race as if his life depended on it. His competitive fire, gutsy race tactics and inherent charisma charmed crowds and inspired up-and-coming runners to stick with the sport and give it their all.&nbsp;

On track for greatness

At 15, competing for Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, Prefontaine set his first national record, running the 2-mile event in 8:41.5. He won back-to-back state cross-country championships in 1968–1969, and went undefeated in cross-country and athletics in his junior and senior years. Heavily recruited by top running schools during his senior year, Prefontaine was swayed by a handwritten note from University of Oregon head coach Bill Bowerman. "It said if I came to Oregon, he'd make me into the best distance runner ever", Prefontaine recalled. "That was all I needed to hear".

While training under Bowerman and assistant coach Bill Dellinger at Oregon beginning in 1969, Prefontaine won seven NCAA titles (three in cross-country, 1970–71, '73; and four in the three-mile distance in athletics, 1970–73). In Pac-8 Conference athletics competition, he won three-mile titles during each of his four years at Oregon, plus the mile in 1971. At home at Hayward Field during his collegiate career and beyond, he notched a remarkable 35 out of 38 victories between 1970 and 1975.&nbsp;

Prefontaine's ascendancy came at a time when running was far from mainstream. Drivers unwilling to share the road routinely yelled and threw rubbish at runners as they sped past. Prefontaine helped changed that attitude from annoyance to admiration. On the strength of his indisputable achievement and winning personality, he was the first person to make running cool. His association with Nike helped establish the Swoosh as a trusted running brand and transform the company from national shoe distributor to worldwide brand.

As a competitor at the University of Oregon, Prefontaine had considerable exposure to Blue Ribbon Sports and Nike footwear (at the time, products were branded Nike but the company name was still the original Blue Ribbon Sports, or BRS). In the summer of 1973, Nike co-founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman extended a $5,000 yearly stipend to help offset Prefontaine's training expenses and to relieve him of occasional bartending shifts at the popular Paddock tavern. In between athletics workouts and long runs along the McKenzie River, Prefontaine put in time at the BRS shop in Eugene. Prefontaine became well versed in BRS and its products and he was an ace pitchman. He printed up business cards with the title National Director of Public Affairs, and began travelling around the Pacific Northwest sharing training tips and encouragement to athletes while introducing them to new Nike running shoes.&nbsp;

The start of Swoosh sports marketing

"The amazing thing about Pre was he was a hell of a student of the sport and he just loved digging and learning about things", said Geoff Hollister, a runner who also competed at the University of Oregon under Bowerman and became Nike's third employee. Hollister managed the BRS shop in Eugene, and he and Prefontaine became close friends who shared interests in architecture, sports cars and, of course, running.&nbsp; The pair visited secondary schools, universities, sports shops and running clubs. "Every place we went, Pre would take time to go for a jog with the kids. He would analyse their form and talk to them", Hollister said. Prefontaine easily related to teens and was a natural spokesman for the sport. In his book "Out of Nowhere", Hollister remembered a talk Prefontaine had with students at West Albany:&nbsp;

Prefontaine took that same personal approach when connecting with athletes from afar, helping to create an early blueprint for Nike's sports marketing. He introduced the sport's elite to Nike products, sending shoes, along with personalised notes and his business card, to running friends around the world. "It was totally his own idea", said Hollister. Prefontaine dispatched boxes to Mary Decker in San Diego; New Zealand's John Walker and Dick Quax; to Brendan Foster in England; and Kenya's Kip Keino. "All those people ended up wearing Nike shoes", said Hollister. In April of 1975, Prefontaine sent a note and a pair of '73 Nike Bostons to the relatively unknown runner Bill Rodgers. The shoes' arrival created a stir among his teammates at the Greater Boston Track Club. "You'd hear about Nike shoes or see pictures, but it was the first pair that I'd seen in person", recalled Alberto Salazar, who was a secondary school student in Boston and a teammate of Rodgers at the time. "He brought them to the track, and we were all holding them and passing them around. Everyone was real excited not only because it was a Nike shoe—which was kind of neat because it was different—but because Steve Prefontaine had sent the shoes with a note". A few weeks later, Rodgers wore them in the local city marathon. He finished first.

Legacy

Prefontaine is also remembered for furthering the cause of American amateur athletes, who were boxed in by the lopsided rules of the American Athletics Union (AAU). In the 1970s, athletes who wanted to participate in the Olympic Games were required to remain amateurs, making it difficult but necessary to train at their sport and earn a living doing something else. The AAU controlled runners' competition schedules and took the lion's share of appearance fees due to athletes. Prefontaine gave up offers upwards of $200,000 to go pro to preserve his eligibility for Montreal 1976, and instead collected a $3 per diem—the maximum amount allowed by the AAU.&nbsp;

He continually challenged the AAU and spoke out about the inequity, even when it put his eligibility to compete in jeopardy. Prefontaine preserved his amateur status but he never made it to Montreal. His last competition was 29 May 1975, in a race he helped organise against members of the Finnish national team and distance heavy hitters such as Frank Shorter. Competing in the 5000m, Prefontaine trailed Shorter the first two miles, then, with three laps to go, accelerated to a 63-second pace. In front of a Hayward Field crowd of 7,000, he finished with a 60.3 last lap and a winning time of 13:23.8, just off his own American record. He ran a victory lap, attended the University of Oregon athletics awards banquet and spent the rest of the evening hanging out and celebrating with friends. The biggest athletics star in the country came to a tragic end later, just after midnight, while driving home—his life cut short by a car accident at age 24.&nbsp; His legacy is multifaceted. To generations of athletes at all levels, he embodies the philosophy of training incredibly hard and going all out in competition. For Nike, he was both a muse as an athlete and a trailblazer who pioneered a highly original and personal way of inspiring athletes with the brand. For fellow runners hamstrung by the AAU, Prefontaine was a leader who helped turn the tide towards professionalism. After Prefontaine's death, others joined Nike in taking up his cause, ultimately leading to the abolishment of the AAU by the US Congress in 1978. It was perhaps his most important legacy off the track.

Prefontaine's competitive fire, gutsy race tactics and inherent charisma charmed crowds and inspired up-and-coming runners to stick with the sport and give it their all.

People

How Steve Prefontaine set the pace for Nike

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/company/people/maisie-skidmore-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">By Maisie Skidmore</a>It sounds like the opening line to a good joke. "Two of the greatest runners of all time walk into a garden". And when Eliud Kipchoge and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-profile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon</a> take their seats—on blue plastic garden chairs, in the lush green courtyard they have helped to cultivate at the Global Sports Communication camp—they can't stop laughing. "Not this guy!" Faith calls out, a wide grin on her face. "Oh no, he won't stop talking!"&nbsp;The warm, jovial back-and-forth typifies the relationship between mentor and mentee, and it's possible that it's what carries these two runners through the hard work they do. They live and train together, here at camp in Kaptagat, Kenya, from Monday to Saturday, week in, week out, covering hundreds of miles while living simply alongside their teammates. For all the laughter, Eliud and Faith's connection is rooted in focus and discipline, two qualities the pair share in abundance. They also share GOAT status.&nbsp;To break it down: in 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, confounding critics who, until that day, had insisted that such a feat was impossible. He won Olympic gold medals in the marathon in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2020, set the world marathon record in Berlin in 2022 and has won 15 of the 19 marathons he has competed in around the world. His global rallying cry is to "make the world a running world" and demonstrate to legions of followers that "no human being is limited".Faith Kipyegon, for her part, is a three-time Olympic champion in the 1500 metres (the only person to ever three-peat gold in the distance), a former world record holder in the 5000 metres and a world record holder in both the 1500 metres and the mile. When we sit down to speak, she is deep in training for her greatest feat yet. This June, with Eliud's guidance and unwavering support, Faith aims to become <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">the first woman ever to "break four" in the mile</a>, running the distance in under four minutes.With teammates and friends such as Eliud and Faith, talk of training, inspiration and dreams is never dull, and we were delighted to sit down with the two to chat through it all. That is, for as long as they could successfully avoid one another's eye contact. At that point, laughter won out.

Maisie Skidmore: Faith, tell me how the idea for this project first came to you.Faith Kipyegon: We [said], with the team, "we have achieved everything!" Three Olympic gold medals. World Championship medals. I've been the best miler on the track, the fastest 1000 metres, the fastest 1500. I said, what else can I achieve? We decided, it's high time to think about empowering girls and inspiring the next generation in pushing barriers.MS: What did Eliud say when you told him?FK: Eliud is like a computer! I don't know who told him, but he had already read my mind. Maybe he had this thought as well, that I could try something to cement my legacy. When I told him, he told me: "I think you have decided on a good thing to do".Eliud Kipchoge: After 1:59, I told everybody, "now you know what to do! You can come, you can train, you can run the marathon in under two hours [like I did]". Now, a new challenge comes to women. It comes to Faith. I'm so happy that Faith has dared to think, and is ready to try to run the mile in under four minutes. This is the chance of a lifetime. Faith will be going up to the moon, actually, and coming back to Earth, and [then] we will celebrate together. On that really crucial day, the world will be united for four minutes. We will celebrate for four minutes. We will make the world beautiful for four minutes.MS: The two of you have a mentor-mentee relationship.&nbsp;EK: Yes, we share a lot.&nbsp;FK: He's giving me his support, his encouragement and inspiration. Knowing that he has already tried [something of this scale] and he has achieved it, that encourages me. I encourage myself that Eliud did it, and I think I am gonna do it as well.&nbsp;EK: You know, I think the most important things are the systems. Faith has already built the real system. It's like crossing a bridge to get to the other side—the systems themselves are the bridge. Faith has just to step on them, and cross to the other side. So our work is actually to motivate her, tell her what's right and make sure her mind is calm. The hardest thing to control is the mind, but Faith is focused.

MS: How do you overcome the psychological barriers?EK: The psychological part follows what you have been doing in training. If you are hitting the right targets, training in a happy way, it makes the other side—the psychological part—very easy. The moment you accomplish one, it will help the other one.&nbsp;MS: How does it feel now Faith, to talk about what you are trying to do?FK: It feels great. To be together with Eliud, to be with a person who has tried and achieved it, has inspired me a lot. Eliud has shown me that boundaries are meant to be pushed. So I'm there to dare to try, and I will give it my all. Being at the side of Eliud and the team, with our coach, and training in a healthy way—it's easier for me, because the team behind me has already been successful.&nbsp;MS: How will you celebrate afterwards?&nbsp;EK: One of our values at camp is that we take time to celebrate our wins. We want Faith to accomplish the mission, to make history. Then, we will absorb the whole history, and then we celebrate.MS: How did you celebrate, Eliud, after you ran 1:59?EK: I ended my celebration at the finishing line. It felt like there were 1 billion people there. I needed to celebrate with everybody, and I think that's the best place to do it. As much applies to Faith; when she's going through that line, with everybody—all the people watching on TV, online, live, everybody—the highest energy will be there. It's good to celebrate that moment, and appreciate everybody in the world that's watching.MS: You've known one another for 10 years. Did you get along straight away?&nbsp;EK: Yes, we had a good relationship. The only problem was that I was on the road, and she was on the track, so at first, to interact was a little bit hard. She was doing one thing, and I was doing another thing.FK: I joined them here in 2019, after I came back from maternity leave. I've learnt so many things. Teamwork is the most important thing, but also, having fun together in camp. That is what we do here.MS: You've worked with your coach, Patrick Sang, for a long time—Eliud, for 23 years, Faith for six. What role does he play, for both of you?EK: A coach can influence an athlete's life much more than a parent; I think he has influenced us more than where we come from. We are here for five and a half days a week, and we interact here. Patrick has played a fatherly role for us. That's the real impact that he has had.FK: Eliud has said it all—Patrick is like our father, he has really mentored us. He knows what's best for us.MS: Coach Patrick told me that you're alike, in many ways. Is that something that you feel, too?EK: I've never thought about it like that! Maybe we are alike in our focus, and our purpose in life, yes.FK: I think ... [laughs] I think we are similar in knowing how to be in the right place, at the right time. When it is time to be in camp, we are in camp, and when it's time to be in training, we are in training. We have learnt that from each other.MS: Living in such close proximity here, you read one another closely. What do you do to lift the mood?EK: If I realise Faith is in a low moment, I just talk to her. She's easy to interact with, and in five minutes, she's laughing again. She's forgotten the stress [laughs].&nbsp;FK: Eliud is a person who reads my mind. Sometimes when I come in here and I'm not talking loud, or laughing, maybe something is bothering me, he's like, "I think there is something disturbing you. What is it?" I feel free to share with him, because he's like my brother—I'm with him all the time here. I listen to him, and after two minutes, I'm laughing again. Then we keep going, and focus on the day.MS: Eliud, what's the most meaningful thing that you've learnt from working with Faith?EK: The most meaningful thing is that she takes risks. Faith takes on anything that comes along. That's the beauty of her.MS: How about you, Faith?FK: What I've learnt from Eliud is that being disciplined is the key to every success. Work hard, every time. And be yourself.

See how the world's fastest man to run 26.2 miles is helping to guide the world's fastest woman to run 1, and make history in the process.

In conversation: marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and athletics star Faith Kipyegon

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="/en/company/people/maisie-skidmore-contributing-writer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">By Maisie Skidmore</a>A few minutes before sunrise on a chilly Thursday morning in mid-March, a crowd of local runners waits patiently at the gates to the Global Sports Communication Camp in western Kenya to join the resident athletes on their weekly long run. The route can range from 20 to 40 kilometres, depending on where the professionals are in their training schedule. Today's workout covers 30 kilometres of an out-and-back, the locals doing their best to match the blistering pace, splintering off along the way. At the centre of this rarefied team is one of the greatest athlete of all time: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="_blank">Faith Kipyegon</a>.&nbsp;The sky, a deep, dark violet, becomes daubed with pink as the sun creeps up. The air smells sweet with wood smoke and eucalyptus. At 6 o'clock sharp, the runners set off, their feet pattering against the red dirt road in a flash of neon pink, orange and yellow. They run in focused silence, eyes straight ahead, yet still gesturing almost imperceptibly to one another to signal a pothole or obstruction or to shift the formation of the group. The only other sounds are the sudden noisy chirrups of birds, the occasional braying of cattle and the thunder of traffic as it races past, another day in rural Kenya beginning in earnest. On the route, the pack of runners pass children walking to school, their large backpacks bouncing up and down on their tiny backs. This, in fact, is how Faith Kipyegon—a three-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 metres, the world record holder in the mile, 15 years a Nike athlete and a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/faith-kipyegon-exclusive-interview" target="_blank">once-in-a-generation talent</a>—got her start.

"Being a young girl from the village, I was running to school and back home. It was fun, you know?" she says. It's a few hours later, and the 5-foot-2-inch athlete is fresh out of an ice bath and wrapped in a down jacket to thaw. All around, her peers' kits hang over bushes, drying in the warm morning sun. "It's still fun", she grins. As a primary school student in rural Ndababit, about an hour away from this camp, Faith covered some 10 miles a day. She's covered many more miles since—and runs them with a Swoosh on her feet—but now her mind is focused on just one. This summer, at Paris's Stade Charléty, she intends to become the first woman in history to run the mile in less than 4 minutes.

For women, a sub-4-minute mile has long been considered not only improbable, but physiologically impossible. For Faith, it's precisely this label that makes breaking 4 so compelling. "I'm a three-time Olympic champion. I've achieved World Championship titles. The team and I were asking, what else can we achieve? Are we going for more medals?" she says. "We asked, why don't we dream outside the box? Achieve the impossible. Make it possible".&nbsp;For Faith and her Kenyan compatriots, who operate almost entirely in metric kilometres, there's a novelty about the mile. The distance remains, as Faith calls it, "a big thing"—a milestone in every sense. She knows her North American competitors measure themselves against it from a young age, sprinting the mile as a fitness test from primary school and upwards. There's also a beautiful simplicity to racing the mile on a track: four laps, as fast as you can.&nbsp;Seventy-one years ago, in 1954, British runner Roger Bannister famously became the first man to run it in under 4 minutes, hitting a time of 3:59.4. Before he succeeded, it had been considered an impossible feat for any human being. And yet, in the years since Bannister broke that barrier, nearly 2,000 elite male athletes have achieved the same. Sometimes, all you need is proof.&nbsp;In 2023, Faith obliterated the existing women's mile record at the Monaco Diamond League, clocking a time of 4:07.64. The whispers began. Could a woman go sub-4? In her upcoming moonshot, she'll attempt to shave off those 7.65 seconds, cementing her legacy.&nbsp;

How? Anybody who's ever raced the mile—particularly while redlining their effort the entire way—knows the gap that divides 4:07.64 and 3:59.9 is chasmic. To help clear it, Nike is considering every factor and advantage, including innovations in apparel and footwear, as well as location, aerodynamics and efficiency. Faith is focused on the internal. First, she'll work to overcome the psychological barriers. "It's all about the mind", she says. "The physical can be healthy, but if the mind is not there, you are done. If you keep on telling yourself that you can do it, you can do it. You have to dream of training in a healthy way. Dream of being injury-free. Dream of how the event will look on the day, how you will be on the day. You can't stop dreaming". Second, she'll build on the solid foundation she established in Monaco—with a little help from YouTube. "I think of how I broke the 1-mile world record in Monaco and that has really helped me to review how fast I was. When you watch yourself running the same race, you can get an idea of what you are going to change".Faith has another formidable tool: the unwavering support and guidance of her mentor and training partner, Eliud Kipchoge, who achieved his own "impossible" feat in 2019, running 1:59:40 to break the 2-hour marathon barrier. Faith and Eliud have known one another for 10 years and trained together at camp for six, since Faith returned to work after giving birth to her daughter. Their relationship is like that of siblings—warm, playful, respectful, close. They are alike in many ways: focused, disciplined, ambitious. And different in others: where Eliud is almost ascetic in his contemplation, Faith is vivacious and animated. What's immediately clear in watching their interactions is the certainty Eliud has that Faith is the athlete for this moment. "What's special about Faith is that she is an abundant thinker", he explains in his soft tone, his gaze intent. "She can absorb any goal. She's a big dreamer, she respects everybody, she communicates with cohesiveness. She's able to put a lot of ideas in a bag and shake it and come out with the best one. Faith is the woman to take on this challenge because she's open to trying". He smiles mischievously: "In life, they say if you are thinking big, you need to wake up earlier and go to bed later. But in sport, if you are really a big dreamer, you train harder and smarter. And Faith is training well".

Eliud sits in a blue plastic garden chair in the lush green garden at camp. All around us grow fruit trees, flowers and bushes with handwritten signs at their bases. Some mark achievements, medals and records; others bear the names of the supporting family, friends and team members who planted them during a visit. (The Nike team keeps up a friendly competition about whose tree is flourishing—and whose is looking a little worse for wear.) As well as affording much-valued shade, these trees represent growth, fruition and the slow but extraordinary progress that can be made with sustained daily effort, says Eliud. Like the interior walls at camp, the garden is laden with signs and posters emblazoned with motivational quotes of all kinds. The positive mental attitude they invoke for Eliud, Faith and their peers is not only important to the training, it is the training. "What makes the psychological part fitter is to make the physical part fitter", he adds, alluding to Faith's process. "If you train in a good way, in a hard way, in a happy way and you are accomplishing everything in training, then the psychological part actually is already fit. You train the body and the mind at the same time".Faith and Eliud share a phenomenal coach in Patrick Sang, who has worked with Faith for six years and Eliud for 23. From his point of view, the goal of running a mile in less than 4 minutes is a natural progression for Faith, an extraordinary athlete whose talent and ambition are tangled up with her irrepressible spirit. "Whatever we do in life is a continuum of what we started some time back", he says. He lists Faith's accomplishments of just the past 18 months: a world-record Olympic gold, a third world title, the world record in the mile. "If you achieve what she's achieved, of course you get to a point where you ask, what if? Then the question becomes, what if you try? We're in the process now of trying, and this is the thing that is worth trying. She is convinced that it's within her reach, and with the proper support coming from all the systems around her, I believe it's possible".

The GSC Camp is a modest, quiet place. The only soundtrack is that of birdsong and chatter, the occasional peal of laughter. Most of the athletes sleep in shared dormitories. They divide chores and other domestic duties among themselves—cleaning, mopping floors, organising rubbish—the rota making no exceptions for medals or tenure. In the small gym, exercise balls are piled in the corner next to weights, a stack of wooden stools, a treadmill and an exercise bike. Outside, by the physiotherapy room, two huge blue plastic buckets—the ice baths—sit next to a freezer full of ice. The athletes using these facilities are the best in the world—the greatest, even, of all time. They have access to every convenience, every luxury, the newest technologies and innovations. But what they need to be at their peak is to forgo much of that from Monday to Saturday. Week after week, they choose to harness their implicit talent through focus, discipline and teamwork.The teamwork is key, and a resolutely Kenyan value. When Faith won her first Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016, she eschewed grand rewards in favour of having electricity installed for the village she grew up in. "Becoming an Olympic champion changed my life, and at the same time it changed the community's life", she says of that moment. "When you benefit, the community also benefits". That same community emphasis guides the athletes here every day. "My favourite thing about being in camp is the teamwork", she adds. "Teamwork is really what drives us to achieve what we have achieved".&nbsp;Eliud is a driving force behind this approach. "We are building a team by defining teamwork as a group of people who trust each other", he explains. "We build it with good values, good words, good training, good living environment, good relationships. With anything that brings humanity. Every day is a day for building teamwork. Faith can win as an individual, and the success belongs to the whole team". It's this focus on teamwork that leads shy newcomers at camp to take up leadership positions there, or the runners to shift their formation over the course of the long run, he explains. "In training, we're trying to give a chance to everybody. Running in front gives you confidence that you can lead other people. So we are rotating to give that chance and that morale to everybody. Go in front, get that motivation".

On Friday morning, the camp's athletes line up yoga mats and physio balls in the garden for their weekly strength and conditioning training. They are guided by their assistant physiotherapist, Eric Muthuri, but there's no question that they fuel one another, focused and united in their effort. As the tempo creeps up, Faith, grinning, catches the eye of some of her peers; together they giggle and protest. This workout takes place some 8,800 feet, or 2,700 metres, above sea level in Kenya's Great Rift Valley, with altitude that encourages the breath out of the lungs rather than into them. But otherwise, the routine is not visibly different from one at a community gym in any other city. When it finishes, the athletes will return to their dormitories to read, nap or sit quietly outside together, mentally preparing for the next workout. Rest and recovery are crucial.

While Faith, her coaches and her mentor push on towards her audacious goal from their base at camp, another supporting team is hard at work preparing for the upcoming attempt elsewhere. In Beaverton, Oregon, Nike's teams are honing innovations in footwear and apparel design and testing using a 3D mould created from scans produced when Faith visited the Nike Sport Research Lab in January. Her visit also included body mapping, baseline testing, VO2 max testing and conversations about colour palette and design direction. There will be no stone left unturned when it comes to improving her performance, her apparel and footwear, or aerodynamics on the day. She sees, feels, appreciates it all. "I don't even know how to talk about Nike—they have supported me in everything. Since 2010! Since I was so young in my career".As for the attempt itself, it's set for 26 June at Stade Charléty in Paris, on the same track on which Faith set new world records in the 5,000 metres in 2023 and the 1,500 metres in 2024. Contributing factors include the weather (no wind is preferable, naturally, and Faith favours afternoon sunshine) and the crowd (loud). But by the time she steps on the track, Faith explains, she'll already have broken 4 minutes hundreds, if not thousands, of times—in her head. "I run through it psychologically, in my mind: today is the day of the event, and I have to do this, and this, and this", she says. "This really gives me energy to wake up in the morning and go for training".&nbsp;

Another prime driver will be the grinning face of her daughter, Alyn, waiting for her at the finishing line. "Becoming a mother has changed my entire mental [attitude]", explains Faith, "firstly because when you are training, you have left somebody behind. I come to stay at camp from Monday to Saturday, and I just have two days with her. Now that she has grown, she understands what I am, she understands what I'm doing, that I have to push myself to hit these great goals. She knows running is not easy—you have to train and focus. She knows that when Mama is going to race, it's a serious competition; she waits until the finishing line, and then she can celebrate". While the time Faith spends away from home is not easy, she sees the power of setting this example for her daughter while doing her part to build a more equitable world for her to grow up in. "Motherhood has shown me a lot", she says. "That is the mentorship we have to give to our children—that you have to engage yourself in anything, whatever you choose. You have to motivate your child, you have to show your child the way. You have to go out to push barriers. And this is what I do".Alyn is not the only one. For every step of her training runs, every early morning rise or ice bath, Faith has women and girls in mind. "I think this attempt could open the minds of women", she says. "I hope they will be inspired to know that what a man can do, a woman can do. You can dream and make your goals happen. Boundaries are there to be pushed. This is the way to go as women, to push boundaries and dream big".

It's Saturday morning at Kipchoge Stadium in Eldoret, and Faith is doing her weekly track workout. Kenya's equatorial sun is high and unrelenting, casting no sliver of shade over the many local and visiting athletes as they run their laps. Its intensity has baked the track to concrete. It's serviceable and beautiful. Stopwatch in hand, coaches guide Faith through her sprints, and it's here and now that everybody watching is reminded just how exceptional she is. Her hands pull into her chest in her familiar and highly efficient form, and she darts around the track in a blur, her stride synchronised perfectly with that of Bernard Soi, her pacer and training partner of 15 years. Even running into the wind, she's hitting 43 seconds for her 300-metre repeats, a pace many elite male athletes spend their whole careers working towards. Her workout concludes and, visibly spent for perhaps the first time this week, she collapses on the grass, surrounded by her teammates, smiling as she gasps for air.&nbsp;

Faith Kipyegon vs the 4-Minute Mile—the official name of the attempt—is tempting to think of as a future moment. One day, 4 minutes, and bang. But it's this; the attempt has already begun. It is the weekly long runs, the strength and conditioning training, the cool early mornings in Kenya's forests and the unforgiving hot days on the track. It's the hours spent with her team, Monday to Saturday, mopping the floors or baking fresh chapatis. It's in the researching, the innovating, the strategising, the planning. Most of all, it is the dreaming—the end-to-end simulation that she has run so many times already in her mind. The total confidence in her ability, her focus, her training. She has faith, and we have her.The day itself, the starting line? That is the celebration. Faith, we'll meet you there.

For women, a sub-4-minute mile has long been considered not only improbable, but physiologically impossible. Meet Faith Kipyegon, the Nike athlete who's committed to breaking that barrier.

Faith Kipyegon is ready to make history

<h3>Pushing limits. Redefining what's possible. Owning their space.</h3>Across sports and continents, Nike athletes Dur Bali, Nader El-Jindaoui, Rouguy Diallo and Intisar Abdul-Kader have built their careers on resilience. They've trained through injuries, defied doubters and carried their roots with pride—all while inspiring the next generation to chase greatness on their own terms.For these athletes, each setback was ultimately a step forwards. Every obstacle, an opportunity. Here, they reflect on the moments that tested them, the rituals that ground them and how they continue to carve new paths—for themselves and for those coming next.

Across sports and continents, Nike athletes Dur Bali, Nader El-Jindaoui, Rouguy Diallo and Intisar Abdul-Kader have built their careers on overcoming obstacles. See how you can learn from their grit.