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

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

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

Sofieke van Bilsen

Photo essay

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

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

2005–2009

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

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

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

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

2011–2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

2016–2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 January 1964. Saturday.The Beatles registered their first number-one hit song in the United States: "I Want to Hold Your Hand".And on a cold, rainy day in Portland, Oregon, a coach and his former athlete met for lunch at the Cosmopolitan Hotel to discuss a possible business partnership.One hour later, Phil Knight and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/bill-bowerman-nike-s-original-innovator" target="_blank">Bill Bowerman</a> stood, reached across the table and shook hands. Blue Ribbon Sports was born.To understand how two Oregonians arrived at that moment—and why it held—we have to go back a decade, to a teenager who had just been cut from baseball.

The Beginning

Phil Knight grew up in Southeast Portland and went to Cleveland High. As he tells it, he was the last cut on the sophomore-and-under baseball team—a decision that stung."I was heartbroken but my mum said, 'You are not going to mope around the house. You're either going to get a paper route or go out for track'. Well, that was easy. I went out for track".That decision set him on a course that would change his life, and, eventually, the sports world.Knight tried out for athletics and quickly found his stride. While he was physically smaller than his teammates, he was fast, competitive and willing to work.At one early meet, his father, William, a labour lawyer who would later become publisher of the Oregon Journal, introduced him to Oregon athletics coach Bill Bowerman. The two older men had attended the University of Oregon together. That day was his first introduction to the coach who would later shape his life.By then, Knight was already starting to win and place in local races, enough to earn a name in Oregon's competitive prep scene. During his junior year, he spotted a headline that stuck with him: Bill Dellinger, a runner from the University of Oregon, who had just won the mile at the national championships under Bowerman's coaching."It was startling", Knight said. "It was a huge headline in The Oregonian and that's when I became aware of Bill Bowerman and what a phenomenal programme he had".

The Hamburger of Runners

Although small and lean, Knight never let size hold him back. In 1955, he played on Cleveland's city-championship basketball team, finished second in the league 880-yard (805-metre) run and took fourth at the state meet. By autumn, he'd earned a spot on Bowerman's athletics and cross-country teams at the University of Oregon.Long before his first practice, though, his father had already turned to Bowerman for guidance—an early glimpse of the connection that would define both men's careers. Curious to get the coach's perspective on whether Phil should attend university or join the military, William Knight wrote to him that autumn.Bowerman replied with his trademark mix of bluntness and care."My first concern is for your young man's education", he wrote. "All will not be fun and frolic. It takes hard work for success in anything … it is a privilege to have your son here, also a responsibility for me, for you and for him".

Like many freshmen before him, Knight soon learned what that meant, struggling under the bombastic Bowerman. "After my freshman year, I had to sit down with myself and ask if I was going to go back to that crazy man, or not", Knight recalled. "I realised if I go back, I'm just going to have to do things his way because he's not going to change. So, I went back".That decision proved pivotal. Bowerman saw potential in Knight—not&nbsp;as a star runner but as an ideal test subject. "I wasn't one of the best runners on the team", Knight admitted. "Bowerman knew he could use me as a guinea pig without much risk".He called Knight the "hamburger" of runners—hearty stock, forgiving, determined—and began using him to test early shoe prototypes. In August 1958, Bowerman sent Knight a letter outlining his summer training plan and added a postscript, "If you have a pair you think would make good flats, send them down. They'll be ready when school starts".The pair Knight received that autumn featured an experimental white, rubber-coated fabric—"the kind you'd use for a tablecloth you could sponge off", Bowerman later said. They were crude, functional and a glimpse of what was coming. The coach was still years from finding a manufacturing partner, but his drive to build a faster, lighter shoe had already found its first willing tester.

From Athletics to Business

By the time Knight graduated from Oregon in 1959 with a degree in business, his competitive drive had shifted from athletics to the classroom. The next stop was Stanford, where he enrolled to pursue his MBA.At first, his path seemed uncertain. But during his final year, a class called "Small Business Management" caught his attention. It was a class that would quietly spark the idea of a lifetime."It was the only entrepreneurship class, so it was one of the classes that I was most interested in", Knight said.&nbsp;He developed a strong rapport with his professor, Frank Shallenberger, who assigned the students a simple but open-ended project: invent a new business, define its purpose and create a marketing plan to support it.Knight had recently overheard a conversation among photographers at the Oregon Journal, where he'd worked summers during university. They were talking about a surge of inexpensive Japanese cameras that were starting to rival the more powerful and costly German models."Electronics was a popular topic at that time and the smart kids chose to write about things like that", Knight said. "But I didn't know anything about electronics, so I wrote about something that I did know about—shoes".Drawing from his experience as one of Bill Bowerman's wear-testers, he built his hypothetical company. By 1962, German sports shoes were on the rise in the US—high quality, yes, but expensive. Knight saw an opening.He turned the idea into a paper he wrote almost literally overnight with a single bold hypothesis: Can Japanese sports shoes do to German sports shoes what Japanese cameras did to German cameras?Knight argued that Japanese-made running shoes could compete on both price and quality with the dominant German brands. Knight received an "A". When the assignment was over, he couldn't shake the idea. "I wrote a letter of enquiry to virtually every Japanese shoemaker that I could find".Only one company replied: the Kow Hoo Shoe Company of Hong Kong. The letter, written in imperfect English, was polite but discouraging."It is with regret to inform you that due to lack of [such] equipment and material, we can hardly manufacture [such] type of shoes and trust that every shoemaker in Hongkong (sic) fails in doing so. We are expert in manufacturing golf shoes, skating boots and bowling shoes, etc.".It wasn't the answer Knight had hoped for, but it didn't matter. A seed had been planted that would soon take root.Shaken but not deterred, he was about to face the opportunity of a lifetime.That story—and more—will come in future Department of Nike Archive features on The Record.

Born of need and elevated by expertise and diligence, today the Department of Nike Archives (DNA) cares for hundreds of thousands of artefacts and a limitless vault of connected stories.&nbsp;The brand archive began organically in the 1970s and officially became DNA in 2006. The department's purpose is to both preserve and accelerate the ever-evolving and interconnected story of Nike. "Knowing who you are and the fights you've come through can do huge things for morale, inspiration and creativity. That's what DNA provides". - Phil Knight

Department of Nike Archives

Go behind the scenes of the famous business deal between Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman—co-founders of Nike.

History

The Handshake That Started It All

About Nike—stories from inside NIKE, Inc.

From his first year travelling to China to his 15th, LeBron James and Nike have used basketball as a cross-cultural exchange to unite players from across the world. During his final stop on the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/lebron-james-forever-king-tour" target="_blank">Forever King Tour</a>, LeBron watched multiple teams face off in Chengdu, their squads separated by thousands of miles: the China Rise men's and women's teams, and the EYBL Cal Stars (women's) and Veritas Academy (men's) based in Los Angeles. Their love for the game might have been born across different geographic lines, but one constant in their personal stories has been <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/stories/lebron-james-china-tour-archives" target="_blank">LeBron himself</a>, who cheered on the teams as they played.

—Photo contribution from <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/zhengyibb/" target="_blank">ZhengYi</a>

Amateur teams from China's Rise Academy and the LA-based Cal Stars and Veritas Academy went head to head during LeBron's China tour. There in attendance to cheer them on: the King himself.

Rising together

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

Editor's Picks

Story Landing

Nike athletics coach <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-athlete-think-tank-third-cohort" rel="noopener noreferrer">Diljeet Taylor</a> is a literal pro at coaching champions through running's demanding middle- and long-distance races—the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m. In these longer events, she says the podium can be decided by "the kick": that sudden surge in the final metres when an athlete's able to turn on the jets. Here, she shares a simple strategy for sprinting through the finishing line.

The closing stage of a race is the most exciting part of our sport, right? In those minute fractions of a second, medals are won or lost, and those tiny moments define people's lives. To coach our athletes for that final kick, we frame it as, you've got to be strong enough to arrive at that last stage with the least amount of damage accrued. People think what you're seeing when athletes sprint at the end is just this natural speed, when actually, it's that they had to arrive at the stage of "one lap to go" really, really strong so they're able to use that speed. If they don't expend too much energy early on—battling for position or making moves when they shouldn't—and they can stay relaxed and confident, then they're set up for the optimal kick. Some of that is pure racing instinct.

There's also a mindset that you need to get to those final metres and be able to hold on to your lead or execute a kick that gets you to the line first. It's about the ability to make your world really, really small. Your focus is the next 10, the next five metres and what you need to do to stay strong. If your thought is, "Am I going to medal?", that's too big. You have to be precise and zero in on the work—e&nbsp;ven when you know you're in the biggest moment of your life.

Editor's note: One of Nike's most famous long-distance closers was Steve Prefontaine, "America's Distance Prodigy". Pre ran each race as if his life depended on it. His competitive fire, gutsy race tactics and inherent charisma charmed crowds and inspired up-and-coming runners to stick with the sport and give it their all.&nbsp;

His last competition was 29 May 1975, in a race he helped organise against members of the Finnish national team and distance heavy hitters such as Frank Shorter. Competing in the 5,000m, Prefontaine trailed Shorter the first two miles, then, with three laps to go, accelerated to a 63-second pace. In front of a cheering Hayward Field crowd, he finished with a 60.3 last lap and a winning time of 13:23.8, just off his own American record. The ultimate kick.

Nike athletics coach Diljeet Taylor shares her secret to sprinting through the finishing line.

Nike exists to serve the complete athlete, and shares their winning mentality. As a champion for athletes and sport, Nike partners with athletes who share the belief that sport can break barriers, push limits, spark change and move the world forwards.

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How pro runners prepare for a powerful kick

In August of 2023, Sha'Carri Richardson dashed towards the finishing line of the 100 metre World Championships in Budapest. In the lead, she raised her arms some five metres away from the tape in pure joy. Five metres is as wide as the Grand Canyon in the world of athletics. For Richardson, what you see is what you get, and what you saw was a 23-year-old phenom from Dallas officially become the fastest woman in the world. Why shouldn't she celebrate like it? Here, Sha'Carri shares how preserving her sense of realness comes from surrounding herself with the loved ones who'll tell it to her straight, how she views the role of honesty in sport and the thrill she takes in defying the haters.

I'm inspired whenever someone tells me I can't do something. Growing up, when I noticed I was really good at athletics, one of my first role models was Wilma Rudolph. She was literally told from her childhood that she could never walk because of her polio, and she went on to become a champion.I want my style to separate myself from every other competitor at the starting line. My other big role model was Flo-Jo (Florence Griffith Joyner), definitely. She looked different from the other runners every time she stepped onto the track. You knew she was going to flow. I thought from an early age, if I'm going to do athletics, I want to be at the top just like her.My generation of female runners need more insight about what to expect at the professional level. I didn't get that when I turned pro, so I want to give that back to the next generation of runners. They deserve to know what they next level of competition is like.Part of being more than an athlete means being human. When you step onto the track, yes, we see you as a superhero. But I'm not perfect. At the end of the day, you're going to see me eat, you'll see me shop, you'll see me enjoy my family and friends just like the next person. Being a real person is always something I want to reiterate when I use my platform.&nbsp;A few years ago, I realised I have to be aware of everything I say. It was when my social media followers jumped in 2019 after I broke the collegiate record in the 100m. Everything I tweeted went viral. I thought, whoa, I'm a role model. If y'all are looking at me like that, why wouldn't girls and boys look at me the same way?&nbsp;

Girls can be role models for boys, and vice-versa. Whoever is putting forth what you want to see for yourself, you can see that person as a role model. Like, I love watching American footballers. They're not holding back. You see the grit, the energy, the tenacity, everything. You're in their world now. When I step onto the track, you're in my world.&nbsp;Realness needs realness. My family keeps me grounded. They're the ones who can tell me, Sure you run fast, but I still know that little girl from Dallas. When I get on that line, I'm representing all of those people who believe in me and who check me with honesty. Without Team Sha'Carri, there's no Sha'Carri Richardson.I need to keep up a personal routine to keep my mental health number one. I do way less social media than I used to. I do more breathing exercises. I've been writing more, which is new for me. I used to think sitting down and putting my thoughts down on paper was a waste of time, but no, it's a whole different source of relief for me.Having a coach who respects what makes you different is a game-changer. My coach and I have a great relationship, and a lot of that comes from how he understands what makes me different. And I'm a lot of different [Laughs]. He knows my personality is core to who I am, so he encourages me to be that person. He doesn't try to change me. I trust him wholeheartedly.When people think Sha'Carri Richardson, I want them to think someone who's real, someone who knows her reality, her goals, her abilities. Someone who's not comparing herself to the person in front of her or behind her. I want to create greatness and give the world a show.&nbsp;

The champion shares how preserving her sense of realness comes from surrounding herself with the loved ones who'll tell it to her straight, how she views the role of honesty in sport and the thrill she takes in defying the haters.

For the win

Sha'Carri Richardson thrives off the doubters

Five games into his professional career, on his third-straight away game, Victor Wembanyama was already at home in the NBA. He scored 38 points, grabbed 10 boards and put up two blocks by the end of the night. At season's end, he'd average nearly four blocks a game, leading the league.&nbsp;Victor is all unreal numbers. The 20-year-old's&nbsp;7'4" frame swallows every square inch of the court. Offensively, he's fluid and mobile. Defensively, he's a one-man zone, able to turn away opposing fast breaks through his size and his stare. Evaluating rookies in the NBA is usually a challenge of evaluating their floor. At a minimum, what can this player become? He entered the league and instantly, the question was how high his ceiling might be—or whether there was one.&nbsp;Here, Victor answers our questions on what it takes to win—from transcending his own limits to banishing fear from his life. I knew from an early age the kind of professional I wanted to be. There's a lot of things we have to do as pro athletes that people in other jobs don't need to worry about, like getting enough sleep after you play a back-to-back and fly to a different time zone. I decided I need to get better sleep. When I start my dinnertime meal, my alarm for the next morning is already set on my phone and I'm not going to use my phone for the rest of the night.&nbsp;I'm lucky in that I can say I'm competing for multiple places. Wearing the France national jersey is one of the strongest feelings I know. In the NBA, I'm attached to the city of San Antonio. I'm a part of it. They've welcomed me.&nbsp;

All my life, I've been much taller than everyone on the court. So, when coaches saw me doing dribbles through the legs and doing fadeaways and stuff, their first reflex was to tell me not to do it. All my life, there's been this pressure to put me in a box. It's been the toughest battle I've fought my whole life. Now, I do have more freedom than before, but I'm convinced that my freedom wouldn't be here without my efforts to go against those stereotypes.Here's what I'd tell any kid who's struggling with something:&nbsp;when I was 12 years old, I went through a discouraging period. I was having trouble with my shot during my games. I obviously was growing a lot at that time and I was even skinnier than I am now, so I had trouble getting my shot off consistently against defenders. My coach told me, "When you're a professional, you'll be working on the present. But right now, you're working for the future".&nbsp;Seeing a kid wear my jersey is special. Any time I catch highlights of our games, I like watching the reactions in the stands and you naturally see the kids who are wearing your jersey. It's not the first thing you think about when you become an NBA player, but you realise you can positively influence the next generation through something you love. It's beautiful.&nbsp;It really saddens me when I see a lack of ambition from people. Usually, it comes from being scared and thinking "I'm not enough". Assuming that things are too big or too ambitious are things I've decided to banish from my life.At the end of the day, it's on you to define what your goals are in life, what you want to become. Winning is accomplishing those things that matter most to you.&nbsp;

I want to help create a new era of dominance for French basketball. That involves promoting the sport and making it more popular in the country for our youth. For professional basketball in France, I think our potential doesn't match our current investment. How can we improve our facilities? How can we train the best staff? We just need to match our potential and foster our pool of talent that's already here. France has the brightest future of any country in the world for basketball.Someone asked me how I make sure my name doesn't grow bigger than the Spurs organisation. That will never happen. The team wants me to succeed and be the best I can be. They've made a lot of sacrifices for me. I want the whole organisation to know how much I understand all that they've done. Sometimes, it's a little thing like sending a text or welcoming someone new to the organisation. I try to show people their worth in all they do. I'm not scared to grow bigger than them, because I want to make the Spurs as big as I can. I want to give back to them as much as possible.&nbsp;I don't think anyone could have a higher expectation for me than I have for myself. So, it's really no big deal when I hear people call me a once-in-a-generation player. The only people to whom I have something to prove are my coach and my team. Even my parents don't have expectations for me; they just want me to be happy. When I don't want to see all that pressure, I turn off my phone. It's as simple as that, but there's really no pressure or expectations. I never felt like I had something to owe to the world. I'm just playing basketball.

The 20-year-old phenom speaks to transcending his own limits, banishing fear from his life, turning off his phone and more.

The legend of Victor Wembanyama is growing

Legendary sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross knows exactly how to complete a lap of the track in the fastest possible time: the Nike athlete is the American record holder in the distance, she won Olympic gold in the 400m in London&nbsp;and she's recorded more sub-50-second finishes in the event than any other woman sprinter, with a career total of 49 times. Here, she shares her secrets to topping the podium—and what the sprinters in Paris will need to do to bring home some hardware.Preparing for the 400 metres is intense. I always say the 400 is not just a test of your physical capabilities, but also your mental stamina. For these athletes who obviously have been training, preparing and dreaming of this moment for so long, it's about executing the race that they've run a million times, the race they've seen in their mind's eye that their coach has prepared them to run.To win the 400, I always used the four Ps: Push: this is the first 50 metres and you're coming out strongPace: down the back, you're looking to hold position and not over-revPosition: rounding the final turn, try to stretch your position as much as possiblePray: coming home, stay poised, execute your best kick and land on the podium

You need to be ready to adapt as well. In 2012, I worked with a sports psychologist who told me, "Something is going to happen that you can't prepare for—and when it does, you're going to put your hand on your lower stomach and you are going to breathe into your hand and you're going to get back in the moment". And I'll never forget, I was standing on the track in London, ready to run my final, and they were announcing the athletes and they got to the winner from 2008, the year I won the bronze—she&nbsp;was announced after me and it was her home country, and I had never heard a crowd get that loud before in my life. It was unnerving. And then I thought, this is the moment that I prepared for and I put my hand on my stomach, took my breath and I rebounded and refocused.Overall, you need that mental preparation. I think of what our Nike athlete TeeTee Terry said about coming to Paris, that you've got to walk in like you've already won. You've got to embody what it means to be a champion. And that's my mindset too. I remember in 2012, I kept saying to myself, "How would I be if I already won? Like, what would this experience be like?" And it made it so much more fun, so much lighter, because I was like, "I already did it! I've already won". I psyched myself up that way, mentally, so that I wasn't so anxious for the experience. And then I really won.

It's about more than running as fast as you can for a lap. Here, the champion sprinter shares her secrets.

Nike is celebrating a love of sport with the world by providing fandom-fuelling stories and distinct, engaging experiences in Paris and beyond.

Powering sport

Sanya Richards-Ross explains how to win the 400-metre sprint

The margin for victory in Paris can come down to inches, kilograms and milliseconds. But what happens when two athletes are tied at the end of competition?&nbsp;Tiebreakers have a precedent in the final heats as recently as 2020, when the high-jump gold medal in Tokyo was ultimately shared by two jumpers. It wasn't always this way. A change in the rulebook in 2009 allowed competitors to make a mutual choice: share a winning jump or battle in a jump-for-jump faceoff until one athlete was left standing.&nbsp;Not surprisingly, tiebreakers for each sport have detailed rules that explain how to determine a champion. What&nbsp;is&nbsp;surprising is that each tiebreaker can look slightly different, following checklists of outcomes that can look downright improbable—but never impossible. We're taking a look at the tiebreaking procedures for some of your favourite events.<h3>Swimming: for the team</h3>Let's start with qualifying heats and semi-finals: for individual events of 200m or less, ties for the last qualification or reserve position are broken by swim-offs. In other words, the swimmers get back in the pool and square off. However, in events longer than 200m and in all relays, all tied athletes or teams advance to compete in the final, with a maximum of 10 lanes. That's one stacked field. If more than three swimmers or teams are tied for the last qualification place, a swim-off may be held.&nbsp;<h3>Long jump: next up</h3>In the long jump final, competitors have six attempts to jump their furthest distance. During competitions, all valid attempts that aren't fouls (i.e. jumps that have illegal landings or that begin beyond the foul line) are recorded, but only the best jump of each competitor counts towards the final result. If two competitors tie with their longest jump, their next-longest legal jump is used as the tiebreaker.&nbsp;Weightlifting: get there firstWeightlifting is comprised of two events: the snatch and the clean and jerk. From the minute lifters step onto the platform, they get 60 seconds to complete their attempt. They have three attempts per round to lift the most weight they can. The final result is determined by adding each competitor's best snatch attempt with their&nbsp;best clean and jerk attempt to achieve a combined total. The lifter with the highest combined total is the winner. In the case of a tie, the competitor who lifts the total weight first receives the higher ranking.&nbsp;Pole vault: try and try again&nbsp;The winner of the event is the vaulter who successfully clears the highest height. In the event of a tie, the vaulter with the fewest failures at the height is the winner. If the tie remains, the winner is the vaulter who produces the fewest failures throughout the entire competition. If the tied athletes remain tied, the winner is decided by a jump-off. Each jumper has one attempt per height. The bar is lowered if the vaulters fail. The bar is raised if the vaulters succeed. This process continues until only one jumper succeeds at one height.&nbsp;Wrestling: in&nbsp;a very particular orderFirst, some distinctions between Greco-Roman and Freestyle. In Greco-Roman, a wrestler may not attack their opponent below the waist, nor use their own legs to trip, lift or execute other holds. In Freestyle, the arms and legs are used to execute holds. If the wrestlers are tied in either a Greco-Roman match or a Freestyle match, the winner is declared using an exhausting list of criteria, following a descending order of priority:<ul><li>Whomever scored the most points on a single hold</li><li>Whomever had the fewest number of cautions</li><li>Whomever scored the last technical point in the match (this is the final tiebreaker in Freestyle wrestling)</li><li>Whomever is deemed to be the most active wrestler last in the match (this is the final tiebreaker in a Greco-Roman match) </li></ul>

Too close to call? We dust off the rulebook for five sports to explain how to crown a winner.

Your guide to tiebreakers in Paris

Nike athlete Janee' Kassanavoid didn't intend to be a hammer thrower. She fell into the event by chance while on her athletics team in secondary school—and found a sport she could dominate.In 2022 at the World Athletics Championships, Janee', a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, threw a hammer almost 75 metres—that's nearly three quarters of an American football field—to win bronze, becoming the first Native woman to medal at Worlds. Janee''s take on her success: "Knowing I'm Native American, I'm Indigenous, I'm a woman, and having strength and that body confidence and being proud of who I am and where I come from—that is what I want to leave behind". Listen below to hear more of what Janee' thinks about breaking records and barriers, from an audio excerpt of our Nike On Air episode with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8c5q8Iy3s&list=PLzCpxgdUI1lb76imfH3bi7k9MdFHVZ3q_&index=16&t=11s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Womanica</a>.

To hear the full interview with Janee'&nbsp;—&nbsp;and learn more about her rise in the sport, her work to get Native athletes into sport and how to properly throw the hammer—check out the Womanica podcast on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nike-on-air-making-history-with-ibtihaj-muhammad-and/id1464524725?i=1000662155808" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Apple</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Brq2LfYc1D8ivEE7eyvYc__;!!KLCbKzk!koGd-tqaEEWIGRY6WUnThLk2WyGvzQyvMWKQTTbaKzKAvI4pKJrL88OYrQtda75Sqy3WAILtLYrJjJyy-Q3wC8p4knArzQ$" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">Spotify</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8c5q8Iy3s&list=PLzCpxgdUI1lb76imfH3bi7k9MdFHVZ3q_&index=15&t=11s__;!!KLCbKzk!koGd-tqaEEWIGRY6WUnThLk2WyGvzQyvMWKQTTbaKzKAvI4pKJrL88OYrQtda75Sqy3WAILtLYrJjJyy-Q3wC8oboEdC_g$" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">YouTube</a>&nbsp;or wherever you get your podcasts.

Representing and empowering Native athletes is only the beginning.

Hammer thrower Janee' Kassanavoid is ready to leave her mark

Check ball: 3-on-3 basketball is back on the world stage after debuting in Tokyo in 2021. Allisha Gray, a guard for the Atlanta Dream, represented the US on the squad that took home gold. For Allisha, 3-on-3 is a mix of traditional strategy, unrelenting pace and quick thinking. As she prepares for Paris, we asked her to give us the rundown on the game's basic rules and the important differences that make 3-on-3 distinct from the traditional 5-on-5.&nbsp;It's a 10-minute game played by ones and twos. There are seven fouls, it's two free throws, and once you get to 10 fouls, it's two free throws and the ball back. The winner is the first team to 21 or whoever is leading by the end of 10 minutes.&nbsp;It's a continuous game and always fast paced. The shot clock is just 12 seconds. You have no time to stand around and catch your breath. It's either offence or straight back to defence after the other team clears the ball beyond the 3-point line. After a scored basket, the game keeps going.&nbsp;Spacing is very important. In 3-on-3 basketball, it's much harder to give help side defence. There's very little double-teaming because it's almost impossible to rotate from the top of the key down to the baseline, or vice versa.&nbsp;On offence, you don't want to be on top of your teammate because you're stopping her from getting to the basket, and your defender can guard two players at once. In 5-on-5, you usually have a post player camped out on the block, so you could drive and accidentally collide with them. But if you're spacing out the floor, you're forcing your defender to make a decision on who to cover.

3-on-3 by the numbers

The lightning-fast format returns to Paris this summer. Allisha Gray, guard for the Atlanta Dream and a member of Tokyo's gold medal-winning team, explains the most important details behind 3-on-3 basketball.

Everything you need to know about 3-on-3 basketball

Winner of nine gold medals, American Carl Lewis is one of the world's most decorated athletes. His performances in the 100 metres, 200 metres and long jump are the stuff of individual legend—his leaping dominance stretched from 1984 to 1996. He is also a former world record holder in the 4 x 100 metre relay, his team netting a time of 37.40&nbsp;during the 1992 Barcelona Games.&nbsp;The [sprint] relay is not just about the runners; it's about the baton. When the race starts, the objective is to keep the baton going the same speed once it gets to full speed. That means the incoming runner and the outgoing runner—the one taking the handoff—have to be going the same speed. Great passes come when the receiver of the baton is focused on matching the speed of the runner coming in. The relay is complicated because, obviously, the baton has to get around, but the event is based on that simple philosophy of shared speed. If that's achieved, the team should achieve.

For the individual legs, there are some unique responsibilities. The starter's job is to get the race going and to make up some distance. The key to the exchange is making it later in the [20-metre pass] zone. If you really want to be fast, stretch it out to the incoming guy, who has to run after that guy—because then he's focused on running full speed all the way. And cannot slow down in the zone. The second leg is important because if the pass is smooth, the runner is on the straight. The second and third legs can be the longest, depending on how the pass zone is run, but the second leg isn't on any curves so a good pace can actually create the illusion of making up more distance. The third-leg pass is important because if it's smooth, the team can make up the distance. As such, the second leg is really important: it's that runner's job to put the team out to the lead, and then the third leg must either extend or maintain it. The anchor leg has two jobs: win and, hopefully, set a record. That's it.

The American athletics legend explains why the 4 x 100-metre relay is not about the runners; it's about the baton.

Carl Lewis on the 4 x 100-metre sprint relay

The sounds of an unfamiliar beat shook the cobblestones in the City of Lights. The year was 1984, and the New York-born artist Futura had returned to Paris, painting backdrops alongside artist Dondi White for the Bronx-based Rock Steady Crew during the world's first International hip-hop tour. The group would later travel to France to face off against Paris City Breakers, a new dance crew that looked to measure its talent against New York's best b-boys. The breaking subculture had drifted to Western Europe from New York City in the mid '80s thanks to hit films like Flashdance and Beat Street. The dance style was quickly forming the fourth "pillar" of hip-hop, joining MCing, DJing and graffiti art.&nbsp; Futura—born Leonard Hilton McGurr—&nbsp;was completing a live graffiti installation during that dance battle. The face-off was a transcontinental moment, something he could sense even as a young artist. He remembers how the music and the dance performances were collisions of underground cultures. Geography was channelled through the notes. For the breakers, geography was channelled through the wrists, the fingertips and the ankles.&nbsp; "I've always had a special connection to France because of that tour", says Futura, now 68. "France embraced us and this New York City art form. So, when I found out that breaking was going to debut as an event in Paris 40 years later, everything lined up beautifully".

That battle in Paris, Futura's relationship to breaking and his work with Nike all come full circle in his latest act: designing this year's breaking kits for the United States, Korea and Japan, and helping to introduce the new Nike Jam, the first shoe designed from the ground up for breakers.&nbsp;

Bridging culture and character

In the world of breaking, few artists have been so integrated into the dance style's rise as Futura. He rose to prominence in the '70s as a new wave of underground NYC painters claimed the city. Futura's art stood out among his peers. He introduced a kind of abstraction to graffiti in a time when it was mostly a letter-based discipline. Where he distinguished himself, he says, was how he interpreted those abstractions into characters, most notably the Pointman—almost extra-terrestrial, grounded in poses that demanded to be contemplated. This inspired his contributions to the three Nike federation kits. "Even though the countries have individual competitors, each of the federations seemed to me to belong to the same family. The kits would form one collection with three nations", says Futura. "So how would each federation define a specific creative idea? I decided that each one would have its own character, or mascot". One benefit of using characters as a muse, he says, is how they naturally embody certain traits, attributes and skills in ways that an abstract design might not. Each of the mascots for the kits had to characterise the physical experiencing of breaking. Words like kinetic and fluid came to his mind. Atmospheric, a label that Futura uses to describe his art, naturally applies to the sight of a breaker at work; an airy lightness guides every move they make.&nbsp;

The breaking apparel features many of the atmospheric characters and sketches that distinguish Futura's art.

Futura [seated, in black jacket] checks out the breaking apparel in Blue Ribbon Studios at Nike's World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.

For the apparel, Nike designers took staple Nike Sportswear pieces and made simple adjustments—from providing a second layer inside the shoulder and elbow area of the hoodie for extra protection to adding more fabric to the sleeves and trouser legs for better mobility.

"Atmospheric", a label that Futura uses to describe his art, naturally applies to the sight of a breaker at work; an airy lightness guides every move they make.

Futura reviews an assortment of patches that appear throughout the collection.

Another term central to Futura's process was athletic. Elite breakers show off an athleticism on par with the world's best gymnasts. In reflecting an airy motion among his mascots, Futura pays respect to the incredible physical abilities of the breakers competing in Paris.&nbsp; "Artists in hip-hop have huge respect for what breakers are able to pull off", says Futura. "Breakers are the ones pushing the limits of their bodies. Graffiti artists, DJs, MCs—we're all afforded a longevity in our careers that breakers don't have". A breaker could blow out an ACL, Futura notes, and their career is over—but that doesn't stop breakers from doing what they love. It's also why, he adds, this Nike apparel collection had to serve the needs of breakers. "On the garments, my characters had to symbolise a physicality, the way they're putting their bodies on the line", he says. Nike designers also asked Futura for his detailed feedback on the Nike Jam, a shoe developed with the feedback of hundreds of breakers who visited the LeBron James Innovation Building to embark on cutting-edge testing. The Nike Sport Research Lab supplied the rationale for many of the shoe's technical details, such as which areas of the outsole to reinforce based on how much force breakers put on certain areas of their foot. Futura's contribution was largely in recommending the shoe's material choices—leathers on the panel overlays for a premium feel, suede over the eyestays for durability, chenille hits on the tongue for an unexpected touch of comfort. Breakers couldn't feel like they were performing in an Alphafly, after all. A specific look and feeling had to come together in a delicate balance.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Leaving his mark

Futura has a rich history with Nike collabs. He's been the creative spirit behind some of the most sought-after releases in the Nike SB line, including Dunks and P-Rods (his most recent design, a Dunk Low released in May, is easily a frontrunner for Dunk of the Year). A partnership built on that kind of longevity and mutual trust gives him a sense for when to dial up his creative additions and when to let the ingenuity of the silhouette stand on its own. Innovating isn't always about creating a new shoe, he's quick to say. It can mean imagining fresh material combinations that we've never seen before—just look at the Jam's upper, where performance fabrics like engineered mesh are paired with traditional lifestyle fabrics.He calls out another small detail. On a limited edition of the Jam releasing later this summer, the shoe sports Futura's name on the tongue, in his swooping signature. Seeing his name adorned on a shoe still gives him chills, he says."A lot of artists would say that seeing their own signature is a big source of pride, because it's one of the most original elements of their stories that live on in their work", he says. "It's the same kind of feeling I get whenever I see my name in any public space, whether that's a subway wall, a gallery wall or a product".Not that he could have ever predicted it back in those early-80s days. "If you would've told me as a young kid that this illegal thing I was doing, tagging walls, would eventually lead to something like this, I would've said you were crazy".

The famed graffiti artist led this season's collection, tapping into a special memory from Paris.

Making it

Futura brings street cred to Nike's Breaking Collection

What is Air? You could say it's nothing—invisible, immaterial—but you could also say it's everything. And trust us, you know it when you feel it. Nike first put Air cushioning into a runner's step back in 1978 and never looked back. In fact, we keep pushing it, for elite athletes, everyday runners and everyone in between. Yes, we are totally, one hundred percent obsessed. Air is Nike innovation at its best. But it keeps getting better. So you can keep getting faster. And the women who Win On Air wouldn't have it any other way.

Sha'Carri Richardson

The American 100-metre champion wears the Nike Air Zoom Maxfly 2. Compared with the original Maxfly, the 2024 spike offers a more stable ride with more ground contact, while still giving that pop of energy return only Nike Air can provide. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-official-images-maxfly2-victory2-gthustle3-2024-mercurial" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out how it's changing how fast athletes can run</a>.

Salma Paralluelo

The Spanish footballer is pictured with the Nike Mercurial Vapor. The Nike team fine-tuned the Mercurial franchise's Air innovations, leading to the 2024 Mercurial delivering 10% more energy return than the 2022 Mercurial. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-official-images-maxfly2-victory2-gthustle3-2024-mercurial" rel="noopener noreferrer">Learn more about the updated boot</a>.

Athing Mu

The American 800-metre runner wears the Nike Pegasus 41—a flagship shoe that now has more bounce, more cushion and more energy return. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-pegasus-41-official-images" rel="noopener noreferrer">Find out what it can do for you</a>.

Beatriz Hatz

The American long-jumper and sprinter wears the Nike Pegasus EasyOn. The shoe is designed for athletes of all abilities, featuring a collapsible heel and toggle lacing system that allows athletes to easily slip in and out of their shoes. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-pegasus-41-official-images" rel="noopener noreferrer">See more of the Pegasus family silhouettes</a>.

Sifan Hassan

The Dutch marathoner races in the Nike Alphafly 3, the lightest and most tested Alphafly ever. The shoe's new continuous-bottom sole helps provide a smoother heel-to-toe transition, no matter where your foot strikes or what your pace is. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-alphafly-3-official-images-release-date" rel="noopener noreferrer">Find out more about how it can better your run.</a>

Akouc Chany

The American 800-metre runner wears the Nike Pegasus 41, featuring forefoot and heel units of Nike's proprietary Air cushioning. <a href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-air-blueprint-pack-official-images" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out the incredible ways we innovate with Air.</a>

Words and images from the <a href="https://linkin.bio/nikewomen/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nike Women</a> Zine, Volume 1.

The competitive advantage for athletes like Beatriz Hatz, Sifan Hassan and Sha'Carri Richardson? Shoes, boots and spikes with our proprietary cushioning technology.

Women who win on Nike Air

In the late 1950s, veteran athletics coach Bill Bowerman was dissatisfied with available running spikes, which were made from weighty leather and metal. As a result, he became obsessed with shaving weight off the shoes to help runners slash seconds off their times. His quest wound up redefining athletic footwear.&nbsp; Prior to this feat, Bowerman's drive and relentless curiosity had precipitated a string of diverse accomplishments: born in 1911 in Portland, Oregon, he excelled as a student-athlete while attending the University of Oregon and later gained acclaim as a high-school American football and track coach. He fought in World War II and came back a decorated hero. In 1948, Bowerman returned to his university alma mater and, during his 24-year tenure, led the university to four NCAA track titles and coached 16 sub-four-minute milers. He also introduced jogging to the community of Eugene in the 1960s, which helped spark a national phenomenon, and he served as the US Olympic track coach in 1972.

Bowerman was also a mentor, coach and friend to Phil Knight, with whom he co-founded&nbsp;Blue Ribbon Sports, the precursor to Nike, in 1964. His confidence and counsel helped the company's original business model—importing and selling Japanese-made&nbsp;<a href="https://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pw/running-shoes/8yzZoi3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">running shoes</a>&nbsp;—to succeed and grow.&nbsp;However, Bowerman's own footwear innovations proved even more influential, shaping Nike's ethos of leveraging athlete insights to design transformative products.

Building a better shoe

Bowerman first began tinkering with running shoes in the 1950s, when he wrote to several footwear companies proposing ideas for improving shoes to better serve runners. None accepted his recommendations. Frustrated but not deterred, Bowerman took matters into his own hands and, with the guidance of a local cobbler, learnt how to make shoes. To start, he deconstructed existing racing shoes with his band saw and examined their anatomy. Then, he toyed with metal and plastic spike plates and assembled various uppers over diverse lasts. Later, a Springfield-based boot maker provided technical advice and showed Bowerman how to craft shoe patterns.&nbsp;

Phil Knight became the first student-athlete to try a Bowerman original. In a letter to Knight dated 8 August 1958, Bowerman suggested a weight-training programme and running schedule. He closed the letter with a postscript: "If you have a pair of shoes that you think would make good flats, send them down to me. They will be ready for you when school starts". Bowerman fitted a handmade pair with an upper made from white rubber-coated fabric—"the kind you'd use for a tablecloth you could sponge off", he explained—to Knight's size. Knight says Bowerman chose him to try the shoes because he "wasn't one of the best runners on the team. Bowerman knew he could use me as a guinea pig without much risk".&nbsp; Whatever the reasoning, the young runner tested the shoes at training one evening but didn't get to wear them for long. His teammate Otis Davis spotted the prototype and wanted to give it a try. He liked the shoes so much he didn't give them back. In fact, Davis went on to win a conference championship and a gold medal in the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympic Games in Bowerman-made shoes. Moving forwards, Bowerman custom fit shoes to his runners by drawing an outline of their feet, measuring widths and noting individual features, such as an extended heel or slim ankle. He experimented with dozens of textiles—kangaroo leather, velvet, deer hide, snakeskin and even fish skin—to find the ideal lightweight, stretchy and resilient material, churning out new creations on a weekly basis. As his prototypes grew more refined and reliable, he continued to seek alliances with footwear companies, to no avail. In an August 1960 letter to a Portland company requesting steel for spikes, Bowerman wrote: "Most American shoemakers are not interested in what we track coaches think about track shoes. The best shoes … at this time are made by the Germans. Their sole material is not too good, and I can either replace their sole or I can make my own shoe. I don't think there is any question, certainly in my own mind there is not, that I now have the best shoe in the world—if I could just find some good American shoemaker to make it".

A shoe in the door

This opportunity finally arrived when Knight forged a relationship with Onitsuka in 1964, based on the belief that less expensive Japanese-made running shoes could perform as well as standard-bearer German shoes. Subsequently, he and Bowerman invested 50–50 in the business of importing and selling running shoes, opening a path for Bowerman's own ideas. The coach expressed his optimism in a letter to Onitsuka in May 1964: " I hope that your arrangements with Mr Knight would be such that I would be free to turn over the ideas that I have worked out on track shoes&nbsp;".Bowerman spent the following summer designing and in October travelled with his wife, Barbara, to Tokyo for the 1964 Olympics Games, where three of his Oregon runners were competing. The couple stayed an extra week so that Bowerman could meet with Onitsuka founder and CEO Kihachiro Onitsuka as well as S Morimoto, a company executive. Bowerman explained his ideas and toured factories to study the cutting and stitching machines. He gained confidence in the Japanese shoemaking process and established relationships with the two leaders, ensuring a receptive audience for his future prototypes and suggestions.

The dawn of Cortez

Bowerman's first breakthrough with Tiger shoes surfaced the following spring, in 1965, as the indirect result of an athletics competition. At the competition, University of Oregon distance runner and future Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore moved wide in an 880-metre race, into the path of a passing teammate. The misstep resulted in a spike-inflicted gash on the outside of his foot. That injury led to a stress fracture and one of Bowerman's most enduring inventions. Early in Moore's recovery, the runner trained in the Onitsuka Tiger TG-22, a high-jump shoe that Blue Ribbon Sports mistakenly sold as a running shoe. When Moore's X-ray showed a break across the third metatarsal, Bowerman asked to see his shoes and promptly ripped them apart. They had spongy cushioning in the heel and forefoot but zero arch support. "If you set out to engineer a shoe to bend metatarsals until they snap, you couldn't do much better than this", Bowerman growled. "Not only that, the outer sole rubber wears away like cornbread".&nbsp; To correct the TG-22, Bowerman fashioned a running shoe with a cushiony innersole, soft sponge rubber in the forefoot and on the top of the heel, hard sponge rubber in the middle of the heel and a firm rubber outsole. In June 1965, he sent Onitsuka instructions and samples for the shoe.

A month later, Morimoto responded, confirming that he was producing a training shoe to the specifications. But, Onitsuka had "some opinion as to the inserted sponge rubber in the heel". Despite the objections, Bowerman pushed for the placement of sponge rubber in the heel, stating that it would help alleviate Achilles tendon issues. That summer, Moore rebounded from his stress fracture and logged more than 1,000 miles in Bowerman's latest creations. Early Onitsuka prototypes featured two distinct pads in the heel and the ball of the foot, and a narrow heel. This eventually morphed into the full-length midsole Bowerman had originally conceived, a feature that ultimately became a major selling point for the shoe.Consequently, Onitsuka introduced the Bowerman-engineered Tiger Cortez, which an early 1967 catalogue explained as: "Designed to be the finest long-distance shoe in the world. Soft sponge midsole through ball and heel absorbs road shock; high-density outer sole for extra miles of wear".

Consumers loved it. The Cortez was the first stable, comfortable shoe for the roads. It looked cool and debuted as running emerged as an American pastime, popularised by Bowerman and his 1967 book "Jogging". And when Knight and Bowerman stopped importing and distributing running shoes through Blue Ribbon Sports and launched Nike as a designer and maker of athletic shoes, the Cortez silhouette carried over to the new brand. It also earned Bowerman a patent for its innovative continuously cushioned midsole. In July 1973, Runner's World called the Nike Cortez "the most popular long-distance training shoe in the US".

1973 Nike Cortez ad

1977 Nike Cortez tradition ad

Waffle windfall

The Cortez, however, was just the first of Bowerman's celebrated inventions, which came to comprise eight registered patents, including shoes with an external heel counter, improved spike placement and a cushioned spike plate. It was also just the first success in his enduring quest to create the lightest running shoe possible.&nbsp;"He thought running shoes could be better", Nike's first full-time employee Jeff Johnson says about Bowerman's early&nbsp;innovations. "He challenged accepted notions of traction, cushioning, biomechanics&nbsp;and even of anatomy itself".Bowerman next sought to manifest a shoe with excellent traction on multiple surfaces, without metal spikes. The solution came over breakfast in 1970, as he&nbsp;contemplated the syrup-cradling depressions of the waffle on his plate. "What if you reversed the pattern and formed a material with raised waffle-grid nubs?", he wondered. He subsequently commandeered the family waffle maker and substituted batter for melted urethane. Unfortunately, Bowerman initially forgot to grease the waffle maker with an anti-stick agent, and it glued shut. Despite this setback, he persevered&nbsp;and fashioned a flexible, springy and lightweight rubber material with a raised, gridded pattern and grip traction.&nbsp;The Blue Ribbon Sports crew raced to debut the Waffle sole at the upcoming 1972 US Olympic athletics trials in Eugene. They had nylon uppers flown in from Japan to pair with Waffle soles hand-cut from sheets of rubber made in Eugene. Early Blue Ribbon Sports employee Geoff Hollister glued the components together, creating shoes for a handful of trial competitors to wear during training or on the infield at the Hayward Field athletics stadium.The hand-built shoes were dubbed the Moon Shoe due to the distinctive imprint they made in the dirt, which resembled the lunar footprints left behind by American astronauts during the era's historic Apollo missions. The first iterations were crude, but runners liked the feel and traction of the Waffle sole and word of the invention quickly spread. Bowerman further refined the concept and developed the iconic Waffle Trainer in 1974.&nbsp;

The rubber studs of the Waffle sole offered give and cushioning that appealed to both elite athletes and everyday runners. The shoes, as TIME magazine wrote, were "grabbed by the army of weekend jocks suffering from bruised feet". The Waffle Trainer placed Nike on the global athletic footwear map, setting the stage for unparalleled growth. Bowerman's legacy as an original thinker and innovator will forever be linked with the Waffle sole, which like many brilliant inventions is so simple and intuitive it resonates immediately and broadly. Versions of it are still employed today in Nike footwear, as are Bowerman's many other contributions to running shoe innovation, including the raised heel, the nylon upper and the continuous midsole.&nbsp;Nike's footwear ideal has evolved, but Bowerman's preoccupation with creating products that enable athletes to perform at their highest potential continues to fuel Nike's culture of innovation. Contemporary examples can be found in footwear technologies such as the Nike Free articulated outsole and the compressive woven-in support of Nike Flyknit uppers.&nbsp;

Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman's quest to create footwear to improve athlete performance is a driving force for Nike's ever-evolving approach to product innovation.

Innovation

Feature

Bill Bowerman: Nike's original innovator

Interview by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lynettesaid/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LYNETTE NYLANDER</a>&nbsp;It's funny the assumptions we carry around—about others, about ourselves—often without even realising it. Naomi Osaka is a renegade of the tennis court and four-time major title winner, but admits that she is personally quite reserved (and always has been). Yoon Ahn, a cultural catalyst and Nike Women's Global Curator, classifies herself as an introvert. In other words, the inside isn't always the outside.&nbsp;So what happens when Naomi and Yoon get together? A meeting of the minds, good energy and a conversation that defies all expectations. (Watch out, world!) Lynette Nylander sits down with Naomi and Yoon to talk about what it means for both of them to perform on the biggest stage in the world and the disarming surprise of finding strength in softness.

LYNETTE NYLANDER How did you two first connect?NAOMI OSAKA I always loved streetwear. When I would go to New York, I would always go to the little boutiques. There was a poster for [Yoon's] collaboration with Nike, a fur jacket, but they weren't selling it, so I couldn't buy it! But I did a deep dive into her work and I've been a really big fan ever since then.YOON AHN Thank you. I think for me, it has to be that moment when Naomi won her first major title in New York. That's when I was like, "Oh, wait. She's from Japan!" I was so proud that there was someone coming out of Japan.LYNETTE I don't think anyone could ever forget that moment. It was just so amazing to see two women in such admiration and support of one another. And I think that's the difference in women's sports. Win or lose, everyone's so in support of one another.NAOMI Collaboration is important, because obviously, I'm a tennis player, and I play singles. So most people think I do everything by myself. But I travel with a team. And in a way, I feel like I'm collaborating with them in the sense that I'm the vehicle for all the hard work we do behind the scenes. People can't push boundaries by themselves. You have to work with people to get further.YOON I approach every project as a way to learn something new, to do something I've never done before. Naomi and I kept coming back to our roots. Both of us are from Japan. Things we like about Japan. We found ourselves vibing soft and approachable.

LYNETTE From what I understand about tennis and what you're allowed to wear, it's still pretty traditional. So it must be really exciting that you can now work with designers and bring your heritage and your culture and your style to your work.NAOMI I've always been the kid that's really into fashion. I've always felt like tennis clothes don't have to be so limited. It's a very beautiful sport, and it would be cool to also wear beautiful pieces. New York always feels like a stage to me. Similar to how singers wear costumes. I almost feel like with the bright lights on you, you need to wear a costume and showcase your ability.LYNETTE Is there a different energy?NAOMI Yeah, for me, the energy of New York always feels like showtime. Especially during the night matches. I think people just want to be entertained and they want to see good matches. In most tennis crowds, people are very quiet, but the New York crowd—you can feel the energy bouncing off them. So it's really fun. Last year, obviously, I didn't play, but I got to watch from the stands. And it was actually really fun.LYNETTE I think across disciplines, it feels like women in sport are finally getting the flowers that they deserve. It really shows right now. Why do you feel like culture has finally caught up with women in sports?NAOMI That's a tough question for me, just because I'm so infused with sport. I feel like people have just started paying attention to the WNBA. And I know Sha'Carri is really bringing a lot of attention to running. But I've really grown up watching sports.YOON This progression that the world needs is long overdue, but I'm glad things are changing rapidly. More than half of the world's population are women. Women getting the spotlight, not just in sports, is necessary, as many systems have been built through the male gaze. It's exciting to see more diverse prominent personalities rising in different cultures all across the world.NAOMI With more time, I think bigger and better things will continue to happen.

LYNETTE You both lead incredibly busy lives. Naomi, you just had a baby, and you've got your huge career. And Yoon, you take on multiple projects in addition to Ambush and Nike. How do you stay, like, mentally prepared and engaged all the time? I want to know!NAOMI I'm a very curious person, and that just leads me to so many different things in life. I don't typically think about being busy. I feel like my curiosity is kind of getting me everywhere. My projects are things that I love to learn about. I'm obviously not a master. The only thing that I would say that I'm a master of is tennis.YOON The way I look at it, these opportunities are given to you. It's a chance for me to try something and learn something new, right? I'm not the type of person who likes to do the same thing over again. So when chances come, I just like to dive in. I feel like a kid in a toy shop. Give me all this and I'm gonna play with everything.

LYNETTE I think of you as women who are able to colour outside the lines. How would you encourage someone else to do the same in their creative practice?NAOMI I tend to go back to just being proud of who you are. I grew up being a really shy kid— I am still really shy. So, I never used to voice my opinions or even think I was worthy enough to have an opinion. One day, something clicked where I just figured that I had a voice and I wanted to use it—whether it's using it to say what I like, what I don't like or to stand up for what I think is right. And I feel like that's also part of you being you. Everyone sees things differently.YOON I was much more of an introvert, I guess. I was trying to meet other people's energy. I was just into spending time by myself, learning things. I spent a lot of time in the library escaping mentally, indulging in magazines and wondering what the world was like out there. Because I grew up like that, whatever chances are given to me, I am just excited that I get to explore different things. Life's too short to just sit and ponder. It's better to do it and regret it than not do it and regret it.

The tennis star and iconic designer on pushing boundaries in sport, style and life.