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

Nike Running

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.

Nike Basketball

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

About Nike—stories from inside NIKE, Inc.

In July 2026, more than 10 hours into her race, ultra runner and ACG pro <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/trail-runner-yao-miao-is-running-down-new-goals-with-acg" target="_blank">Yao Miao</a> hit the final wall. Specifically, the eleventh and penultimate section of Camins d'Hèr, a 110-kilometre ultra race in Spain's Pyrenees mountain range, which passes through the small localities of Arties to Escunhau, a distance of about 5 kilometres. The stretch is a gruelling, exposed vertical climb that squeezes every last drop of mental fortitude out of a runner before they tackle the remaining 8 kilometres to the finish. Even the fittest athletes reliably bonk when they reach it.For Miao, the wall was simply one more obstacle to climb. She'd later cross the finishing line, fist raised in the air, completing the race in 13:04:34, the course's fastest-ever time in the women's field. Yao Miao is one of the most accomplished racers of her generation. She's one of only six runners worldwide to win two different UTMB finals events. But she also had a secret tool in her race prep: insights from the Nike Innovation Farm Team, an 18-strong ultra-runner cohort who trained in a four-month residency at the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/nike-sport-research-lab-environmental-chambers" target="_blank">Nike Sport Research Lab</a> (NSRL) in Beaverton, Oregon.

A Nike team of applied physiologists combined the data from Miao's springtime visit to the NSRL with a four-hour resilience run done by the Farm Team and crunched the numbers through a predictive model to map out the pace that would land her in a hypothetical finish window. They shared the formula with Miao in the weeks before Camins d'Hèr. The team estimated she'd finish between 12:37 and 13:44—and to put ink on a specific number, 13:09. She'd cross the arch in Vielha within five minutes of that prediction.Thanks in large part to the data from the Farm Team, there was less guesswork to the milestones Miao needed to hit. The group acted like a squad of teammates in her corner, bringing a sharper clarity to her plan.

And that was the whole point. The 15-week Nike Innovation Farm Team, which kicked off in April at Nike's Philip H. Knight Campus, was created to help Nike innovators uncover the levers behind ultra-endurance running.The science of endurance performance under two hours is fairly well understood. The longer a runner goes, however, the less we know about what causes some to succeed and others to crumble. The standard factors of endurance performance become more dynamic—and unpredictable—especially in ultra-distance mountain running. The distances are outrageous. The terrain shape-shifts in a flash, covering high-altitude climbs and steep descents. There's a mix of unforgiving surfaces, and the weather can change rapidly. What's more, a race can last for days, and it's largely a solo endeavour. You're likely to be running by yourself for extended periods of time, sometimes for hours. The opportunities for a scientist to intervene naturally and observe how the runner's body is negotiating the work are few.

What the Farm Team gave Nike researchers was a rare 15-week window to dig into all aspects of the sport and, maybe most importantly, its elusive performance enhancer: resilience."In a race, everyone slows down over 13 hours", says Brett Kirby, PhD, senior principal scientist of applied performance innovation in the Nike Sport Research Lab. "The winner is the one who slows down the least. In other words, the most resilient runner wins. We wanted to study resilience in three main ways: physiologically, biomechanically and psychologically".With the Farm Team, NSRL scientists wanted to create a realistic, uninterrupted environment to gather enough data to better understand this resilience. The bonus was that the outcomes of their studies should help all runners fine-tune their training. This could be picking the right programme (e.g. what could help you blast through an uphill sprint in hour eight of a race) or the right product to wear for a race course. This scientific foundation for new product solutions extends beyond the pros too, and can help any runner who hits the wall of the mountain and wants to break through.

Nike's vast backyard in the Pacific Northwest became the Farm Team's research centre. They were embedded in the NSRL and set free in the surrounding Portland area, including the sprawling Forest Park trails and the stunning routes in the Columbia River Gorge.&nbsp;"Time under effort is the variable that makes or breaks an ultra runner's race", says Brad Winn, lead researcher of applied innovation, who served as the programme's head coach over the 15-week protocol. "Time is also the critical piece on the research side. We wanted to spend as much of it with these athletes as possible".

The programme's name came from two places. One borrows from the farm team concept popular in sports like baseball, where a farm team serves as an important talent pipeline for a franchise. The other comes from one of Nike's foundational employees, Jeff Johnson. In the mid '90s, he and Stanford track coach Vin Lananna co-founded the esteemed sub-elite distance-running track team, in many ways a precursor to today's track clubs. Both inspirations draw from the same purpose: to explore how a dedicated pipeline can—through athlete talent and the exploration of their potential—improve a larger community.There were 18 spots—nine men and nine women—up for grabs in the Farm Team's squad, and runners applied online beginning in March 2026. Criteria for the programme was strict. Selected runners needed to complete all 15 weeks of training and have the ability to run for up to four hours at a sub-elite pace. Nike Innovation received thousands of applications and had the daunting task of selecting the handful who would be invited to relocate full-time to Beaverton.

The residency's embedded nature was undoubtedly a challenge. "Moving away for four months has been difficult, on top of working a full-time job", says Alec Hewett, a Farm Team runner who works as a senior manager of national teams at USA Triathlon and is in his first year of marriage. "But the sacrifices were still a no-brainer for me and my wife. Having full support from her and from my job has been awesome".The 18 runners were divided into two cohorts, each focusing on a different training protocol over 10 weeks. One was a concentric-dominant, more traditional uphill programme (concentric refers to the shortening of the muscle under force). The other was an eccentric-dominant programme, or one that focused on the lengthening of the muscle under force, translating into downhill workouts. In addition to run-specific workouts, both groups applied their concentric or eccentric focus to assigned strength training workouts. The eccentric groups, for example, would do lifts like descending lunges, paying close attention to the lowering of the weights, whereas the concentric group did a contrasting lift, like a weighted step-up.&nbsp;

The team was given a full array of Nike's diagnostic tools in the NSRL to help scientists better grasp what was happening under the bonnet of each runner. For example, every runner's gait was analysed through <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/nike-nsrl-form" target="_blank">Nike Form</a>, an algorithmic tool developed in-house by the NSRL to study a runner's unique biomechanics. Through this data, scientists could study the athletes' mechanics during long runs, how training impacted their mechanics over the course of the study, how their body interacted with footwear over time and how race simulations impacted fatigue. After 10 weeks of training, each baseline test was measured again, charting how runners progressed their fitness according to their programme.&nbsp;The Farm Team played an important role in testing some of the latest breakthroughs coming out of Nike Innovation, like the recently announced Picklejus, the new ACG model with a cushioning system optimised for big-mountain racing. The squad tested the shoes in the lab, trialling Picklejus during a challenging four-hour treadmill test with changes in both speed and gradient to simulate mountain-like terrain.The team's comments on the shoe and, specifically, their ability to describe in clear terms what they needed to feel from it, helped show what was working well. For example, many runners voiced a need for protective stability without sacrificing snappiness for uphill surges. The Farm Team also tested apparel prototypes that ACG pros like Miao wore for her Camins d'Hèr race.With a trove of scientific data over the 15-week residency (the Nike Form sessions alone gathered some 13 gigabytes of data per runner), the insights move in all directions. They travel down to the general product level and move up to ACG's squad of pros, who are wringing every possible advantage out of their pre-race training, race-day strategy and post-race recovery.&nbsp;Take Caleb Olson. In October 2025, the NSRL Applied Performance Innovation teammates met with the Western States 100 winner for a mini camp in the desert of St. George, Utah, talking about his typical training and how he's preparing for UTMB. That exchange cued unanswered questions in trail running, especially the power of downhill running. Olson asked how he could run downhills at full effort rather than conserving energy for the last descent. That question was an impetus for Nike Innovation Farm Team training: to build a training regime that could fortify Olson's body. Nike Innovation teammates created Nike products that would give him an edge—the same products tested at length by the Farm Team cohort.

"Lab data doesn't win races", says Kirby. "Conversations do. The data doesn't mean anything if we can't connect it to meaningful relationships with our athletes".The Farm Team programme wrapped in late July. Nike scientists now have their own mountain to climb in sorting through the data, and some intriguing results are bubbling up. One of them, says Kirby, is the improvement in physiological, biomechanical and psychological testing in the eccentric training group, which doesn't resemble a traditional, well established fitness programme. On the mega ramp outside the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/lebron-james-innovation-center-nike-sport-research-lab" target="_blank">LeBron James Innovation Center</a>, while the runners completed punishing repeats, some of them assigned to the downhill regimen barely felt like they were breaking a sweat. This gives credibility to a convention-bucking point in the world of training: eccentric tolerance is a training variable that must be worked into your plan.While the study's conclusions are ongoing, the takeaways are immediate. And that brings us back to Yao Miao, Camins d'Hèr and the wall.

The morning Miao began the race, she had a dedicated physiological cheat sheet at her fingertips, translated into pacing charts by the second over the technical course. It was like a menu at each stop describing which interventions to take, like whether to apply sun cream, what fuel to eat and why, as well as researched recommendations for what product to wear. This data-backed advice came from Farm Team insights.Miao hit the cooling station at the eleventh stage. The Nike Innovation team had prescribed options: an ice bandana, cold water to pour over her head, salt tablets. They also created a cue card for her technique to help her efficiently scale the ascent: "Head down, shortest stride, poles fully engaged". Included on that card was a concise summary of the plan to finish the race. It summed up in 27 words what Miao was feeling after more than 10 hours of peak physical exhaustion: "Final wall. 57 minutes. Heart rate will be 96% the whole time; that IS the plan. You will feel awful; everyone does. From the top, only 8km remain". Nobody knows exactly what will happen during the twists and turns of an ultra race. But thanks to residency programmes like the Farm Team, there's less mystery in knowing what makes an ultra runner tick.&nbsp;"The people who know athletes best are the ones who spend the most time with them—it's that simple", says Winn. "There's no better way to do that than bringing them here to our house, inviting them in and doing everything we can to support them".

See how athlete insights from the new residency programme help create better products for every ultra runner.

Trail running

How the Nike Innovation Farm Team Is Pushing the Science of Ultra Running

Seeing Eliud Kipchoge fly by at a 4:34 marathon pace is catching just a glimpse of the greatest of all time honing his craft. Most of his running career hinges on the thankless, unglamorous but essential training sessions that build his reserve for breaking records. The Kenyan marathoner is synonymous with the Vaporfly and the Alphafly, the pinnacle of Nike's racing products. In reality, Kipchoge uses many different shoes during training for different workouts—long, easy runs, fartleks, hills and more. He doesn't just need a super shoe. He needs a super trainer—a&nbsp;shoe that borrows traditional components from racing footwear, like carbon-fibre plates and unique midsole geometries, and translates them into a more durable shoe for year-round training.&nbsp;<a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/zoom-fly-6-official-images" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Zoom Fly 6</a> is Eliud's latest addition to his training quiver for those days when he needs to push the pace. The silhouette is also emblematic of Eliud's commitment to test, improve and validate Nike Running's full line-up of race footwear. According to Elliott Heath, senior expert of running footwear at Nike, Eliud's product knowledge borders on the professional.&nbsp;

"We've started to call Eliud our product line manager on the ground", says Heath. "He's doing hand sketches and writing dedicated notes about our prototypes—that's his baseline. Over the last couple of years, he's gone to the next level of building feedback sheets, giving them to his running camp teammates and asking them to give their own notes. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-and-eliud-kipchoge-celebrate-20-years" rel="noopener noreferrer">He's the world's best marathoner</a>, but he actually feels like a member of our product team".In the past, Eliud has incorporated the Zoom Fly into his rotation, especially the 5, which was a perfect trainer for his easy Monday runs; he'll step outside his front door and go anywhere from 12 to 18 miles. When he tested the 6, he immediately noticed the lighter weight and more comfortable upper, both of which he relayed to Heath in his soft-spoken, methodical manner. He's willing to give constructive feedback, too, but always graciously, such as when he recommended adding a slightly more durable material along the outsole, helping the shoe better withstand a rigorous training schedule. "It's worth giving a thought", he scribbled in his notes.

Other cues from Eliud, says Heath, are less obvious but just as revealing. A thoughtfully long pause between sentences. A decisive nod of the head about a feature that's working. Most notably—and this is what happened with the Zoom Fly 6—he simply smiles, turning the shoe over in his hands.

Watching Eliud so eagerly review every shoe in Nike's line-up is inspiring for Heath and his team. Eliud's notes help ensure that every Nike silhouette serves a distinct purpose. No one's as qualified to give that precise, attuned feedback as the greatest marathoner of all time."Eliud's commitment to testing our shoes is a testament to how we partner with athletes all the time, not just on race day", says Heath. "What you do in a race is 5% of your running journey. Anyone who's racing marathons is spending 95% of their time in other shoes, gritting their teeth through the easy and hard miles that aren't glamorous. Any time an athlete wants us to be a part of their 95% as well as their 5% on race day, that's when we have the real potential to better serve our runners".

How does Nike use athlete feedback? See and hear marathon GOAT Eliud Kipchoge's line-by-line and word-for-word notes on your next best training shoe.

Fan hub

Hear from our ultimate wear-tester on the new Zoom Fly 6

All of Nike's record-shattering, convention-breaking&nbsp;shoes began as prototypes. Many of them were disguised the same way: shrouded in black.American marathoner Conner Mantz remembers when he received the first prototype of the Vomero Premium in December of 2023. The upper was blacked out. The Air Zoom units sandwiched in the midsole foam, the shoe's most identifiable feature, were masked with tape.&nbsp;Holding the prototype, he points to a light outline across the midsole. "You can still see the tape lines", he says. "It was to keep people from seeing the Air Zoom units while I went on my long runs".This step in the prototyping process, called "blinding", is one of many ways in which Nike researchers and sport scientists set the table for testing new shoes with an athlete. Part of the goal is to keep the shoe undercover from the public for as long as possible. Scientists will hide stand-out attributes of the shoe, like its midsole profile or its upper, whenever it's tested in a public setting. But shrouding the prototype in mystery is intended for the athlete, too. The goal when designing these test studies is to minimise any confounding factors that could affect how an athlete performs. That includes getting past any hesitations about how odd, distinct or flat-out wild a prototype might look. Researchers work hard to isolate an athlete's physical response when they use a new piece of tech. They don't want any quality of a shoe to prematurely influence an athlete's feedback. Undistracted, the athlete can focus on the straightforward experience of wearing the shoe, getting a taste for how this mysterious new tool can give them a competitive edge.

Much like its final design, the Vomero Premium's earliest prototypes drew plenty of knee-jerk reactions at first sight. It nearly falls into a different category of maximalist footwear altogether. To a degree, that's where it belongs. The Vomero Premium is ineligible for World Athletics competition thanks to its 55mm stack height in the heel, a full bed of ZoomX foam and two exposed Zoom units borrowed from Nike track spikes in the forefoot and the heel.&nbsp;Mantz was in a deciding moment in his competitive season. He was battling a bone injury to his femur, but the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials were fast approaching, and would determine who travelled to Paris later that summer to compete for a medal. Training was painful at times. He couldn't get in the mileage he needed. In his transition back to road running, he needed a bold solution to help build back his stamina. What he got was a bold, new prototype to test out. But the leap from a prototype's presentation to its adoption is easier said than done."What I needed in my training shoe was something that could get my confidence back up", says Mantz. "When my team showed me this new Nike prototype, it was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was a lot. You see this, and you think it's going to be clunky to run in".

Testing innovative prototypes with new cushioning systems like that of the Vomero Premium is a thorough process. It includes hours of exchanges between athletes, designers and scientists about which qualities of the shoe need to be turned up and which should be toned down. Just as important in the process, though, is another tall task: to channel positive belief in a product that might look and feel different from what an athlete is used to wearing.Sometimes a prototype must fight against historical preconceptions if it contains technology that was never thought to "belong" in a particular sport. Take the Nike Maxfly sprint spike. Introduced in Tokyo in 2021, the spike was the first to bring Air Zoom to the 100 metres. Seeing the pronounced Air unit in the forefoot was unusual, particularly for an event that suggests a less-is-more approach for footwear. Weren't simpler, more minimal spikes better? Fast forward to Tokyo's conclusion, and athletes wore the Maxfly and medalled in both the men and women's 100 metres—and the 200 metres, the 400 metres, the 800 metres and the relay events.&nbsp;A clear premise, to fine-tune the plated airbag design for sprint biomechanical loads, was achieved both through adoption and through race performances.How do you convince athletes that, while what they're currently wearing may work,&nbsp;this&nbsp;prototype they're holding in their hands has the makings of something special?"Our main focus is trust", says Tobie Hatfield, Nike senior director, Athlete* Innovation. "If athletes don't know that you're looking out for them as individuals, they'll never trust the product you make for them. Everything we do has to be built on earning their trust".Encouraging an athlete to adopt a new shoe depends on stoking that trust—emotionally, psychologically and, in the case of a shoe, biomechanically.

Trace all shoes back to their first prototypes, and you'll find that most designs are intentionally made as visually subdued versions of the final silhouette. This allows for controlled research; the more basic a shoe looks, the less likely an athlete will form a biased opinion about it. Emily Farina, sr principal, Running Footwear Research in the NSRL, recalls the earliest testing of the Vaporfly 4% prototype in the mid 2010s. She says the shoe's initial field research went relatively unnoticed, thanks in large part to the anonymous-looking prototype. The early design would be the starting point for the groundbreaking Vaporfly 4% Elite worn by Eliud Kipchoge in Breaking 2. "If you saw the early prototype in 2015, it was hard to really know what you were looking at", says Farina, referring to its stack height and rocker shape, two outlying qualities which have become standard for that new era of cushioned running shoes. "Validation relied on what you felt and how you performed, not what you could see. Nike brought the prototype to Eliud's running camp in Kenya. A lot of the runners had trouble understanding how the design could make them faster. That is, until they took the shoes for a tempo run, looked down at their watches and realised they'd cut their pace by 30 seconds or more while exerting the same effort".

The stopwatch is one of the simplest signs of biomechanical efficiency. Are you able to run faster for the same effort? If the answer is yes, persuading an athlete to continue testing a new prototype becomes a lot simpler, no matter how extreme it looks. Often the athlete comes to this realisation of their improved performance in a kind of epiphany, like in the scene Farina describes, when a runner is able to accomplish something they weren't expecting and feel great while doing it. For Conner Mantz, his came during a long run in Utah, where he laced up the Vomero Premium prototype for a 22-miler with his training partners, still building up his base fitness due to the injury. He ran four of those miles at a snappy 4:30 pace. Mantz was shocked by how good he felt."That's when I started thinking to myself, maybe there's something special here", says Mantz, laughing how the prototype's stealthy design drove his teammates nuts. "They'd ask me to just tell them what this new shoe was. I'd tell them, 'Don't worry about it'".Other athletes need more information to trust a prototype. That's why Nike scientists test athlete responses to a range of stimuli, dubbed "signals". In footwear research, signals are different ways to evaluate a shoe's effect on performance.When world champion Faith Kipyegon visited the NSRL in September 2024, she underwent a number of tests that gave Nike scientists a quantitative launching pad for how to serve Faith in preparation for her four-minute mile attempt the following year. She underwent a VO2 Max test to explore her personal capacity. Another signal that's typical of NSRL visits from elite runners is a submax VO2 test, in which the athlete runs on a treadmill and swaps in different shoes while they are hooked up to an oxygen mask. The test results measure the body's use of oxygen to perform a task. Here, in comparing one shoe to another, proof of improved performance comes through improved physiological stats.

Along with creating Faith's one-of-one track spike, Nike provided her with a whole range of Nike tools to supplement her training for Breaking4, including the not-yet-released Vomero Premium for her recovery runs.

"The Vomero Premium was a key part of my training journey", says Faith. "It's so soft, cushioned and comfortable, and it helps me train harder with less impact to allow me to recover faster and stay focused on my goal".

Breaking the Mould for Breaking4

New doesn't always mean perfect. In the case of Faith's attempt, designers listened to every bit of her critical feedback to get her Victory Elite FK prototype just right, like expanding the width in the forefoot or adding spikes for better traction at toe-off. Mantz's review of the Vomero Premium prototypes were just as honest. The first prototype needed a more supportive upper, he told Nike designers and developers. After a few weeks, he had an updated version on his feet, though the second prototype felt less like a recovery shoe and more like a speedy, Alphafly-esque shoe. He relayed his feedback to the design teams. Another one of the updated versions had gone almost too extreme on the cushioning. It was too soft, said Mantz. The teams adjusted the midsole to find a happy medium between too soft and too race-y."Conner would always give us straight, honest feedback, which is vital to our process", says Rachel Nichols, lead developer, Nike Running. The feedback loop encompassed a variety of teammates across product design, working together to address Mantz's detailed review of each prototype.On and on the dialogue went, up to a fifth version of the prototype, and this one was … just right. He was back to logging 120+ mile training weeks, and what's more, he was feeling confident again, equipped with a training shoe that was working with his body through the high volume.

You know where the story goes from here. Mantz would go on to win the 2024 US Olympic Trials, where he secured his spot for Paris, finishing eighth. Now, Mantz is using every tool in his arsenal, including the Vomero Premium, to chase a new personal milestone at the 2025 Chicago Marathon: the American record of 2:05:38.&nbsp;"The Vomero Premium became this incredibly important shoe in my career. Training in the shoe helped me feel like myself again", says Mantz. "I'm really excited for people to be able to experience it. Going through the process of testing those early prototypes, helping make the final shoe as good as it can be, meant a lot to me".

Unflinching athlete feedback makes all products better. If a prototype has any chance to take off, incomplete versions need to be dismantled and built back up. Trust with athletes is formed not just through the successes, says Hatfield. It's formed through the failures, requiring the willingness to acknowledge when a product fell short. Shoes are never tested in a technological vacuum. Spreadsheets of positive data, oxygen masks and shrouded midsoles are all part of the magic. But trust in a new prototype begins and ends with the ordinary, relational act of listening to what athletes need."We never want a shoe to be disguised as a solution that was looking for a problem", says Hatfield. "That's backwards. A shoe should start by considering a problem that needs a solution. Listening to athletes gets to the heart of their needs, and that's where trust is formed".

Davis Jones is a Nike innovation, design and product editor. His areas of interest include sport science, performance product design and the history of sport.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Born and raised in Oregon, Davis attended the University of San Diego. Upon graduating, he worked as an editorial intern for Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He was a writer and editor for Surfer magazine before returning to the Pacific Northwest to work for Nike in 2018.&nbsp;

Davis Jones

Conner Mantz Feature Loop

How do you convince athletes that, while what they're currently wearing may work, the prototype they're holding in their hands has the makings of something special?

Nike Design

Nike Sports Science

How We Partner With Athletes On New Prototypes

If you've ever cued up a <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nike.com/nrc-app" target="null">Nike Run Club</a> (NRC) session, you know his voice. He's the one in your ears every time you lace up and head out the door—equal parts coach, philosopher and hype man. Chris Bennett, or "Coach B" to the running world, is Nike's Running Global Head Coach and the man behind the mic on the NRC App.&nbsp;He's one of those coaches who always knows what to say at mile 3. You find yourself nodding along mid-run, digging deeper because he's spurring you on. As the voice behind the free running app with users worldwide, Bennett has become widely popular, his mantras so deeply embedded in running culture that they've taken on a life of their own across Reddit threads and social media posts. "Struggling doesn't mean failure". "If you can't do the run you want to do, do the run you can do". "Kindness is hardcore". They're the kind of lines people write on mirrors and carry through difficult days that have nothing to do with running.

A competitive runner from New Jersey, Bennett ran at UNC-Chapel Hill before coaching future Olympians at the post-university level and building what became the Northeast's most successful secondary-school cross-country programme. When Nike asked him to come on as a full-time Coach in 2014, he wrote his entire coaching philosophy down on a legal pad and handed it over. Those notes became the NRC Truths, and he's been building on them ever since.Now, he's distilled that philosophy into his first book, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href=" https://www.harpercollins.com/products/this-is-about-running-this-is-not-about-running-chris-bennett?variant=44778258399266&amp;utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGn3pWCp6GXZKEdlPg-KM6Fa9gVZMj9-nNYb-kPhoN_LD5hC_IkZfYqBb6nGmw_aem_pCHhH0eUGgJ6B-I5oALmGg" target="">This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running,</a> a motivational guide that will be released this autumn and is available for pre-order. It's a title that, if you know anything about Coach B, tells you everything. Bennett's not stopping there. Beginning on 7 July, as part of Nike's 2026 After Dark Tour, his popular podcast will feature a months-long series of conversations with women across the world. From elite athletes to first-time racers, Coach B is passing the mic to women who are changing the game and redefining what's possible.&nbsp;Below, he talks about why he fell in love with running, what he believes about the sport and why the job, as he sees it, is never finished.

How did you get into this line of work, and what led you to where you are today?I've been running basically my entire life. I was the fourth of five kids, so if you wanted to keep up with your older sister and brothers, you had to move. That was the first inspiration to run.I grew up in New Jersey, where there's a really rich tradition of cross-country and athletics at the youth level. It was just something you did. I was introduced to it as a team sport, which I think was really important. I wasn't in love with running initially—I was in love with having teammates, and that's what bridged the gap between trying the sport and dedicating myself to it. I was incredibly lazy until I made the connection that my laziness was hurting the rest of the team. That's what actually got me to train consistently and intelligently. It wasn't about me; it was about the fact that I was letting my team down.I got to run for the Nike Farm Team, a post-university Olympic-development team at Stanford University, and my first Coach there was Jeff Johnson—employee no. 1 at Nike and a good friend to this day. I ran for them for five years. I wasn't trying to make the Olympic team, just the trials. But I was training with people who were, and it was a really incredible experience.I had already decided in secondary school that I wanted to coach and teach. When Nike eventually sat me down and asked what I would do if I were coaching the runners who met at their New York City stores, I mapped out a weekly schedule, the kind you'd give to any serious athlete. And that's how I coach. Just because they're not elite doesn't mean I wouldn't treat them like they are. You don't give somebody less of a regimen because they have less speed.

What is it about the Guided Run format and your specific approach that makes people connect with you the way they do?When it's just audio, you're only engaging with one of their senses, which I think is super powerful. People become more focused on what you're saying. With video, people are paying attention to your hand movements, they're paying attention to the background, their mind starts to drift. But when it's just sound, they're more tuned in, which means that what I'm saying has to be honest. When people are hyper-focused, their BS detector is on high.&nbsp;When we first started creating these, I had a couple of rules. One was that this is unfiltered. There isn't anyone between me and the athlete. I've always been adamant that if I was going to do this, it was going to stay unbelievably human. It wasn't going to be like other guided runs. It was going to be grounded in the coaching philosophy that I espouse, which is that kindness is hardcore, and that the best way for athletes to be able to break through barriers or clear hurdles is for them to be supported while they're trying to do it. I won't lie to them. I want them to become their own best coach. With every Guided Run, I want them to need me less and less. I want the athlete to own this. When I'm telling them to do something, they have the final decision.&nbsp;People develop a relationship with me. There are a lot of people I've never met, but we've gone through some stuff. When we do finally meet, it's often a very emotional meeting. That connection is so important. We're in a world where disconnection is only getting greater and greater. Knowing that this is a digital format and we're not in person, I wanted to make sure it was as human as possible. That means that like with human interactions, I ramble. I go off on tangents. I make really bad jokes. I have runs called the "It's OK 5K", the "Struggle Run", the "Tough Day, Easy Run", the "Thank You Run".&nbsp;My philosophy is that when you go for a run, it should be about more than running. I think that's why the connection with listeners has been so intense and durable over the years. You're often described as someone who can make a person believe they're a runner before they've ever even gone for a run. Where does that come from?Well, first, I really believe it, so that helps. But I also think it comes down to the understanding that coaches don't create anything—coaches uncover things. When you understand that, it makes your job so much easier. I don't have to create a runner; all I have to do is convince you that you can do things you don't believe you can do.&nbsp;I like to keep the bar low intentionally. I never say, "I can get you to run a marathon". I say, "I can get you to run from here to the end of the street". You don't believe that counts as a run. My job is to convince you that it does. The second you realise that counts as a run, you've experienced success. Inevitably, what you think next is: I could have gone a little further. I could have gone a little faster. I can do that again. And that's how it all starts.

One of your more famous quips is, "If you can't do the run you want to do, do the run you can do". What do you mean by that?As a runner myself, I used to sometimes put off runs until very late in the day, and then I'd get to a point where it was late and I wasn't going to be able to run for as long as I wanted to. I would convince myself that if I couldn't do the full run, what's the point?&nbsp;It was that all-or-nothing mentality. But there's so much something between all and nothing. If you've got 20 minutes, that's all you've got. So if you run for 20 minutes, you're actually giving it 100 percent of what you've got. How can you diminish yourself for giving it 100 percent of what you could do?This idea ended up in a Guided Run when I was working with Michael Orenstein, NRC's former head of product, and one of the guys who helped develop the runs early on. He was going to a pottery class and he said, "I'm not going to be able to run today; I've got to rush". And I said, "When's the class?" He told me it was 35 minutes from then and a 20-minute drive. So I said, "Why don’t you just go run for five minutes?" I remember him saying, "Five minutes? That's not a real run". And I said, "Five minutes is the only run you can do".I recorded the "Five-Minute Run", put that line in there and it blew up. That was about seven years ago, and it's one of my most quoted lines ever.

You have a book coming out called This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running. Can you talk about the book and elaborate more on the title?It's another one of those things I would casually say that kind of took off. I'd say it after making a point that was seemingly about running, but that was really about something bigger. It goes back to coaching kids. I had to make sure that the 90 minutes I had with them every day counted. I wanted them to have the opportunity to learn something about life. I felt like I would be a failure as a coach if the only thing they walked away with was the ability to go further or go faster.&nbsp;I wanted to give them strengths and habits they could carry into the rest of their lives. How you deal with struggle, how you have relationships with people, how you get through hard times, how you dig deeper, how you act as a supportive teammate to others—these are things that go on during practice. You have to get across to your athletes or your students that these are things you will take with you out of here. Don't leave this at practice. Bring this home."This is about running, this is not about running" has been the foundation of my coaching for 18 years. And the book embodies that—if&nbsp;you're a runner, whether a new runner or a long-time runner, you're going to end the book and you're going to be a better runner. But if you've never gone for a run before in your life, you're going to be a better person. It doesn't need to lead to you running.Regardless of where you're coming from—whether you're about to leave secondary school, going through a breakup, training for a marathon or taking on any other kind of challenge—this book is for you. It's about running. But it's also about much more than running.<ul><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="hvariant=44778258399266&amp;utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGn3pWCp6GXZKEdlPg-KM6Fa9gVZMj9-nNYb-kPhoN_LD5hC_IkZfYqBb6nGmw_aem_pCHhH0eUGgJ6B-I5oALmGg" target="_blank">Pre-order a copy of Coach B's book in the US</a> </li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://lnkfi.re/yfzwUn?utm_source=ig&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=link_in_bio&amp;fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnqCOF01UFfBXwJ8XK36zI9N7fDAttdKU2JBLcRLWR75KFBh8RYUAatrhGyYM_aem_Oa3G0bKKyFdPFbYhtx6OHA" target="_blank">Pre-order a copy of Coach B's book in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe</a> </li></ul>

Whether you're a first-time runner or practically a pro, you'll be able to use the advice from Chris Bennett—equal parts coach, philosopher and hype man.

Talking Craft

5 Questions With Nike Running's Coach Bennett

See What Drives Us

Stories from inside NIKE, Inc.

Story Landing

Nike Sportswear

Tom Sachs on Wearing His Demerits with Pride

Georgia Hunter Bell Takes the Nike FlyWeb Bra to Athlos London

Short Stories

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.

Feature

Inside the world's fastest mile race

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.

Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile

Breaking4

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

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

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.

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.

Converse

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

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>

A <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/faith-kipyegon-wins-gold" target="null">legendary runner</a>. A <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/breaking4-faith-kipyegon-vs-the-four-minute-mile" target="null">legendary goal</a>. Faith Kipyegon is one of the most accomplished middle-distance runners in history. To push herself beyond simply earning more gold hardware, she set her sights on breaking a barrier thought to be indomitable—running a sub-4-minute mile. To match that goal, Nike is bringing its full power of sports science research and design expertise to create the integrated made-for-speed products to help get her there: a first-of-its kind speed suit, a sports bra made of a revolutionary 3D-printed performance material and a featherweight spike that turns the dial on innovative features up to 11.

The Nike team knows that performance in the mile is decided by the sum of many fractional decisions. The choice to hug the inside rail or float to the outside. Sprinting a breakneck pace at the start or hanging back to assess the field. Designing for an audacious attempt like Breaking4 is similar. Functionally, all of the Nike products need to combine, piece by piece, to help Kipyegon—the women’s current world record holder in the mile at 4:07.64—shave off the 7.65 seconds she needs to meet her goal.“The integrative nature of this kit means everything with this attempt”, says Brett Kirby, principal researcher in the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL). “Not any one thing will help her break it”.Here, Nike researchers and scientists unpack the power of the three Breaking4 innovations.

The Nike Fly Suit

The Nike designers’ mission for Kipyegon’s kit: Create the most aerodynamic speed suit in running history. Nike’s contributions to running aerodynamics through apparel spans historical scenes both memorable (Cathy Freeman’s bodysuit in Sydney) and more subtle (Eliud Kipchoge’s half tights in Breaking2). The gains to be made are huge; aerodynamics is a critical factor in Kipyegon’s attempt. At full sprint, she’ll be running 15 miles per hour. As the air hits her body, she’ll be pulled back as the air whips around her, building pockets of air, or eddies, behind her.

To fight these forces, enter the Nike Fly Suit, a one-piece apparel solution with a complementary headband and arm and leg sleeves featuring sleek, stretchy materials designed to help Kipyegon stay “slippery” to move through the air as efficiently as possible. The material used on the headband, arm sleeves and leg sleeves is lighter than that on the suit, which covers Kipyegon from below the neck to about the knee. As apparel gets further away from the body’s centre of gravity, keeping it lightweight becomes even more important to help Kipyegon conserve her energy. Plus, aerodynamic materials perform differently depending on their location across the body.

Nike’s star innovation feature in mitigating air forces are the Nike Aeronodes. These half spheres vary in size; some are smaller than a pencil tip. The Aeronodes are strategically placed on the suit to accomplish two goals: split the air in front of Kipyegon and create smaller eddies behind her to reduce drag.

Put another way, the job of the Aeronodes is to keep the wind “attached” to Kipyegon, or streamlined to her body, says Lisa Gibson, senior project manager for apparel innovation. Without them, the wind whipping behind Kipyegon gets “noisy and nasty”. Picture a rock in the middle of a rushing river, water wrapping tightly around the rock’s mass. Now, imagine if the wake of the current behind the rock wasn’t pulled back in but instead radiated further and further away from the rock, those swirling eddies increasing in intensity. That’s what happens when running at Faith’s speed in a typical suit. The Nike Fly Suit’s Aeronodes help the wind act like that rushing water around the rock, pulling the air tighter against her body and creating the smaller eddies behind her.Adding elements to make the suit faster might seem counterintuitive. But the project’s goal—to combine incremental product changes to give Kipyegon the best chance of breaking 4 minutes—required Nike scientists and researchers to suspend preconceived notions.“On our innovation team, we always start by challenging any assumptions we have about athlete performance”, says Gibson. “We know our legacy with footwear design and the importance of the spike in cutting down runner times. But when we continued to explore the advantage we could gain from the apparel Faith wears—a conversation that we helped lead with Eliud Kipchoge and Breaking2—it became clear how much faster Faith could potentially run if the suit had certain physical features beyond the slickness of its material”.

The proof was in the testing, beginning with a digital wind simulation. Here, the team interrogated every detail of how the Aeronodes showed up—each one’s circumference, height, the spacing between them. Digital simulations allowed the team to test a range of configurations in a short amount of time without needing to create physical nodes on the suit. As the configurations looked more promising, the testing moved into a wind tunnel, then onto the track, then, finally and most importantly, to Kenya for Kipyegon to try herself.“We could say that a product feature might help make Faith faster”, says Amy Jones Vaterlaus, VP innovation, NSRL. “But if that product feature doesn’t match how Faith likes to feel, move and show up, then we’re not doing our jobs. The balance between the benefits of the speed suit and its familiarity for Faith was crucial”.

The Nike FlyWeb Bra

For enhancing sports performance, a typical sports bra has its drawbacks: It can hold more moisture to the body compared with other articles of clothing. The “thermal burden” associated with a normal sports bra can also be ruinous, even for an event as short as a mile. These considerations struck the Breaking4 design team, along with the fact that Kipyegon’s Fly Suit material was made to be as sleek as possible. It was critical that a sports bra not add another unnecessary heat source.For the attempt, Kipyegon will wear a new, one-of-one bra made of Nike FlyWeb, a 3D-printed TPU material optimised for moisture management, better than any typical textile. The bra’s racerback style provides more range of motion, and the computationally designed form features a dynamic, precision-tuned surface that’s denser in some places for higher support.

“This 3D-printed material innovation represents something entirely new on a visual and visceral level”, says Janett Nichol, VP, Nike apparel innovation. “Sports bras have never looked or felt like this before. The material is soft, light and incredibly supportive—yet it also feels like you’re not wearing anything at all. We know Faith’s bringing everything she has to achieve this goal, so we knew Nike FlyWeb had to be part of our contribution”.

The Nike Victory Elite FK

Last summer in Paris, Nike designers were already evaluating Kipyegon’s go-to spikes for her future mile attempt. The footwear behind Kipyegon’s hat-trick 1,500-metre gold in 2024 and her mile world record in 2023 is the Nike Victory 2. For Breaking4, Nike designers knew that whatever shoe she wore needed to be packed with the latest technology and engender trust in the way her Victory 2 spike has throughout her career.

The footwear team explored dozens of options, the models ranging from subtly different to net new. Kipyegon’s preferences guided the final verdict. The&nbsp;team levelled up a new silhouette made to Kipyegon’s specifications—the Nike Victory Elite FK—that is light, propulsive and, most importantly, fast.

“Track spikes are incredibly important for preserving energy while running”, says Carrie Dimoff, footwear product director, Nike innovation. “The suit addresses the energy demand to run through air. Faith’s spike features completely new components designed to increase her energy return and improve&nbsp;her running&nbsp;efficiency. The spike is also significantly lighter than anything she’s worn before.&nbsp;We’re storied in our spike design history at Nike, and still we’ve pushed even further into the future with Faith’s Victory Elite FK spike”.

Kipyegon’s Nike Victory Elite FK spike has several distinct benefits. First, the Air underfoot. Nike’s peerless middle-distance research suggested that a taller Air Zoom unit would help improve runner efficiency across greater distances. Despite the taller Air Zoom, Kipyegon’s custom spike was engineered to have a slightly increased heel-to-toe offset compared with the Victory 2.

Second is the customised spikes, an experiment in shedding weight while optimising traction for Kipyegon. The shoe’s outsole plate features six titanium spikes for better traction at toe-off, compared with five on the Victory 2 and on early prototypes that Kipyegon tested, pictured here.

The titanium spikes are lighter than steel and stronger than aluminium, which are the primary metals used in traditional spikes. The six spikes are also embedded, not screwed, in carbon fibre layers on the plate, creating a more seamless integration underfoot, seen here, in Kipyegon's final spike, which features a graphic with the goddess of victory.

See how Nike innovators created a one-of-one suit, bra and track spike to help the world champion become the first woman to break the 4-minute mile.

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

Behind the design of Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 speed kit

Meet the dream team behind Faith Kipyegon's Breaking4 attempt

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