When the most decorated 100-meter 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 honor 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 colors of her nation’s flag for her final finish —&nbsp;gold-hued 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-meter 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-meters 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 track and field’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 the now 276 incredible races and finish line moments, thank you, Shelly-Ann.Below, go behind the scenes of the G.O.A.T.’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 in-house photographer to 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 sports 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 ability to work in high pressure environments for athletes.

Sofieke van Bilsen

Photo Essay

Icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Ran Her Final 100 Meter 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 &amp; CEO Mark Parker to debut his Nike Zoom LeBron V "China" colorway.

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’ 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, emphasizing 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 grueling, 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 kilometers, with elevation gains of 1,200 to nearly 10,000 meters — the grit, determination, joy and freedom trail running gives you is worth every ounce of work. See for yourself.

<h3>ROSS GOLLAN</h3>Race: ETC; 15km with 1,200m elevation gain Global finish rank: 29th

<h3>MARIE NIVET</h3>Race: Experience Trail Courmayeur (ETC); 15km with 1,200m elevation gain Global women’s finish rank: 7th

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

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

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

<h3>DREW HOLMEN</h3>Race: CCC; 101km 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

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NIKE BFL_WORLD CUP BOOTS CUSTOMIZATION hero-cut

Kylian Mbappe, France’s prolific team captain, is known for his explosive speed, his precision, and his ability to be in the exact right place on the pitch at the exact right time.To help one of the tournament’s leading scorers play his best — along with every elite Nike footballer — the Swoosh needed to bring that same speed, precision and ideal proximity to its product services. Enter the 2026 Montebelluna Boot Shops, a three-hub system across NIKE, Inc.’s Philip H. Knight Campus (PHK) in Beaverton, Oregon; its headquarters in New York City; and its offices in Mexico City.

These pop-up shops, fueled by <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/inside-the-italian-workspaces-where-we-craft-the-nike-mercurial-boot" target="_blank">Nike Montebelluna’s expert bootmakers</a> and orchestrated through its Sports Marketing teams, have served athletes all summer long, delivering on specialty boot requests in an average of 24 hours. From Cristiano Ronaldo’s custom golden boots to Vini Jr.’s <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/built-for-speed-nike-unveils-new-mercurial-vapor-and-superfly-football-boots" target="_blank">Mercurial</a> with the Brasilian flag and his personal logo to Mbappe’s blue and red Merc with the names of his loved ones added, the Nike specialists made the boots for the athletes who made the moment.Below, go behind the scenes of the Boot Shop at PHK, and see how the brand’s Montebelluna and Beaverton teams combine old-world craft and modern speed to unlock the next era of serving athletes.

How Nike Customizes Boots For Its Elite Players

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Go behind the scenes of the pop-up shops that helped deliver more than 600 specialty boots to players throughout the summer tournament.

Global Football

The Nike Boot Shops Delivering Custom Requests for Ronaldo, Mbappe, Vini Jr. and More

About Nike - Stories from Inside NIKE, Inc.

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 Global Running 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-collegiate level and building what became the Northeast’s most successful high school cross-country program. 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=PAdGRleAS8sKxwZG9mAmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzEyNDAyNDU3NDI4NzQxNAABp23OaaCx00NqpSE4294E1HzGDZG4Vcf0Mi5xT0GO6m1eiPpAO8w8HgIVcvCN_aem_MgddCEZLLg7pnZx8cJXz5Q" target="">This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running,</a> a motivational guide that will be released this fall and is available for preorder. It’s a title that, if you know anything about Coach B, tells you everything. Bennett’s not stopping there. Beginning July 7, 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 track and field 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-collegiate 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 high 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 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 Okay 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 realize 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 farther 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 —&nbsp;if you’re a runner, whether a new runner or 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 graduate the eighth grade, 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="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=PAdGRleAS8sKxwZG9mAmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzEyNDAyNDU3NDI4NzQxNAABp23OaaCx00NqpSE4294E1HzGDZG4Vcf0Mi5xT0GO6m1eiPpAO8w8HgIVcvCN_aem_MgddCEZLLg7pnZx8cJXz5Q" target="_blank">Pre-order copy a copy of Coach B's book in the USA</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, NZ and Europe</a> </li></ul>

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

Running

5 Questions With Nike Running’s Coach Bennett

At this year’s Hyrox World Championships in Stockholm, Dylan Scott has unfinished business.One of the sport’s most ferocious competitors, the former Doubles World Champion finished third at last year’s Championships in Chicago. The Nike athlete, who now has his sights set on the coveted individual title, has competed at every World Championship since entering Hyrox in 2021. Each year, he has finished closer to the top. He arrives in Stockholm intent on finishing the job.&nbsp;That he’s here at all is remarkable. At 17, a career-altering injury derailed his dreams of becoming an elite runner and the future he’d always imagined for himself. Years later, after rebuilding both physically and mentally, he discovered Hyrox almost by accident. What followed was a steady rise through the sport’s ranks that eventually caught Nike’s attention. Last year, another long-held aspiration became a reality when he signed with the brand he’d loved for years.He’ll tell you that he’s not the fastest or the strongest. But Scott has something that’s harder to manufacture: grit.&nbsp;Here, in his own words, he reflects on resilience, identity and what it means to win the right way.

I come from Ninety Six, South Carolina — a town of about 2,000 people — and that place shaped the athlete I became.&nbsp;It’s actually a Revolutionary War battleground, and a lot of our training was out there at the historical site. I ran so many miles on that cross-country course that I could close my eyes and run it in my head. The high school track wasn’t even six lanes — it was five and a half, because you got to the back, and half of it fell off a hill. The weights in the weight room were all rusty. It wasn’t this pretty thing you get with Hyrox, this production. It was grit.&nbsp;You don’t always have access to the best things, the best facilities, but if you put your head down, you can start climbing that ladder. I came from doing workouts with tractor chains in the yard to standing on podiums at World Championships. That’s pretty cool.When you come from a really small town and ascend to a world stage, it instills humility and gratefulness. You start experiencing all of these things that are so big, with so much grandeur to them, but you know where you came from.

It really broke me down as a person when I lost the ability to run. I got injured right before I turned 18. I spent my entire senior year of high school either on crutches or in a cast, and at points in a wheelchair. It happened when I was running on a treadmill watching the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/how-steve-prefontaine-set-the-pace-for-nike" target="_blank">Prefontaine</a> movie. My iPod fell, I did a weird shuffle step, and within 15 minutes my right foot was completely dead. Until that point, I had almost inextricably tied my entire identity to running. It was my emotional outlet, my social outlet, my sense of who I was. My sense of purpose was stripped away. I had to sit down and ask: “Who am I? What do I like? What else is going to occupy this space?”&nbsp;Over the four- or five-year span of recovering, my understanding of myself as a person grew so much. Looking back, I’m actually really, really thankful. As much pain as the injury caused me emotionally and physically, it created something in me as a person. It changed who I was and my entire perspective on life.Partnering with Nike was a dream I had that I’d almost let die. I’m so happy I didn’t give up. The path I’d always imagined — running collegiately, earning it that way — wasn’t going to happen after my injury. At some point, you have to look yourself in the mirror and go, “You’re not enough at this. You’re going to have to pick a different avenue.” That fire had really dwindled down to where there was almost nothing left. But for some reason, it didn’t completely burn out.When I did performance testing at 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>, I was working with people who could give me insights I couldn’t facilitate on my own at home. The things I could find out about my body, my abilities, things I should change. All of that within that building, it’s astronomical. It really could be the difference between where I am now and where I need to get to win it all.

I don’t just want to be a winner for the sake of being a champion. I was drawn to Nike because of that same spirit. Nike wins. That’s what they do. But they want to win the right way.&nbsp;With respect for the sport and my competition, I’m going to be the best I can be. I’m going to compete against the best competition. But I’m not going to race dirty. I’m not going to sh*t-talk you publicly or try to belittle you. I’m going to create an environment around the race where whoever wins won it fair and square, and against the best version of their competition. I want to be a champion where people say, “This guy did it the right way.”I’ve always been willing to go to a dark place in training, but I’ve learned not to go there too often. A lot of athletes in sports like Hyrox really value the ability to suffer and sometimes test it too much. You keep checking in: “Am I tough enough? Can I hurt enough?” And what tends to happen is you just burn your body out, because there’s only so often you can go to that well and actually handle it and recover from it.Still, I’ve always told myself that when I refuse to go to those places in training anymore, that’s when I’ll retire. When I’m at the 45-minute point of a workout, knowing that at 55 minutes we’re going to enter that spot, I think, This is going to be hell. But today I’m choosing hell, because I still want to be a world champion.

I give a lot of kudos to my wife, Maria, for pushing me to be uncomfortable and not cling to the past. I was working a corporate job and I was afraid to move on from it because of the security it represented. She said, “You can do this. Please take the step.” I was making it work before, but there were leaks in the ship. We’re in a new boat now. It sails a lot better. Fewer holes.When you’re around your kid, you get to rediscover things through their eyes. Having my son, August, has brought so much joy and perspective into my life. He doesn’t care if I’m on top of the podium or not, he just yells for Dada, and that’s it. Sometimes right before a race, if I’m in a weird emotional state, I’ll think, Let me just hold my son for a second. Twenty seconds of a big hug. And then I’m like, All right, we’re good, let’s go. Sometimes that’s all you need.I value effort over almost anything else. Outcomes take care of themselves when you put enough into them. I want my son to see that. He sees fitness as a lifestyle, he travels to races with us. The first beach he ever went to was in France. I want his life to be full of movement and culture, and I want him to see his dad doing it the right way.I never thought I’d be a world champion or even close to that, but as I stacked bricks over time, I kept getting closer. I kept moving up the podium, and now I’m at a point where it’s like, It wouldn't make sense if you didn’t apply yourself, didn't try. You’re too close to it. So the mindset has shifted from just doing something and happening to be good at it to committing to and pursuing being a world champion.

The Nike athlete has his sights set on the coveted individual title and knows exactly what will get him on top of the podium: grit.

Training

For The Win

Dylan Scott on the Slow, Steady Work of Becoming a Hyrox Champion

It’s 2015, and touring Nike’s world campus in Beaverton, Oregon, is Kobe Bryant, 6 foot 6 inches of genius basketball talent, and energetically curious about what his partner sport brand is up to in its product innovation spaces. The creator of Mamba Mentality wanders up to Nike teammates at work and asks, “Are you creating that epic sh*t?”That phrase from Kobe has become <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-new-innovation-engine-announcement" target="_blank">the North Star</a> for Nike’s EVP and Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer, Phil McCartney. It’s a call to action, and it spells out a mission as important to him as <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/bill-bowerman-nike-s-original-innovator" target="_blank">Bill Bowerman</a>’s mandate that the company should make athletes* better. “We’ve got the authenticity of Bowerman in the roots of the company, plus the athlete irreverence from Kobe, so put that together and it becomes a standard of excellence,” says McCartney. It’s the way he measures products: Is it epic? Does it make athletes better? “If it doesn’t, then we shouldn’t do it."

Before McCartney came into his role in June 2025, Nike had no shortage of ideas and sport-science research. What it needed was focus, the muscle memory to turn its athlete insights, science-backed data and design and product ideas into intentional, sharper, more epic swings. A little chutzpah couldn’t hurt either. “I wanted us to get our swagger back, to be more responsive, have a competitive spirit and an athlete’s mindset about the work,” says McCartney.A clear strategy, ruthless prioritization, and license to dream came through in short order. Last September, the Innovation team organized as “IDP” — Innovation, Design, Product — an acronym that McCartney says belies the creation process: Before his team does anything, they have to innovate,&nbsp;then&nbsp;design, and the product is the outcome. At the same time, the company launched its <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/amy-montagne-the-force-returning-nike-to-sport" target="_blank">Sport Offense</a> — organizing teams enterprise-wide by sport to better serve the athlete. His two immediate goals in his role: connect <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/meet-the-nike-mind-team" target="_blank">product back to science</a>, taking advantage of the company’s ability to scrutinize and study like no one else, and shore it up with the art of athleticism. And build a deeper, holistic approach to innovating that better connects teams across NIKE, Inc., creating one engine that accelerates product creation.

McCartney says he's at his happiest in creative spaces on campus — the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/inside-the-serena-williams-building" target="_blank">Serena Williams Building</a>, the Michael Jordan Building, the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/inside-the-nike-sports-research-lab-lebron-james-innovation-center" target="_blank">LeBron James Innovation Center</a> and Converse spaces, and the Bowerman Footwear Lab, where he says teams create magic every day. This 90,000-square-foot space tucked inside the campus’s Mia Hamm Building is an imagination machine for sneaker creation. Amidst heaps of colorful bolts of fabric and foot lasts, McCartney is like a kid at Disneyland, grinning at the technological abilities at the company’s fingertips. “This footwear lab changes how people think about creating product and designing —&nbsp;it’s our test kitchen,” explains McCartney, emphasizing that&nbsp;this&nbsp;is the space where you’re reminded that Nike is a product company serving athletes through new solutions. One of the most exciting parts of the space to McCartney is its real-time prototyping capabilities and the ability to tinker with a product idea for an athlete <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/how-nike-built-its-world-headquarters" target="_blank">visiting campus</a>, then instantly modify the proto based on their feedback.That innovator’s spirit goes hand and hand with another classic Nike strategy: Get out into the communities and know your people. “I want us to go grassroots again, to operate a hyperlocal model and be so connected with the athletes that we can anticipate their next need,” says McCartney. Sitting in his fifth-floor office in the Sebastian Coe Building, he pulls out his computer and flashes up a deck that goes deep on his innovation teams’ three major product focuses for Nike’s next fiscal year. You can see, he explains, how these three product constructs can be adapted by region, by sport and by athlete. The tight lineup didn’t start this way, he adds. Winnowing down the most innovative products to these three constructs took months of killing good ideas in favor of great ones, then punching those up to be epic.One step to making this a reality, says McCartney, is to bring key partners along. He’s fresh off a two-week trip to Asia, where he says he worked directly with factory owners he’s known for 20 years. “We walked through the steps to accelerate my teams’ ideas from concept to final product faster and more efficiently,” he says. “This is an essential part of revving our innovation engine and solving challenges in real time.”

Like everyone else he knew growing up, McCartney wanted to be footballer. The sport was the lifeblood of Newcastle, the city in northern England where he was raised. Football was also one of the clearest paths out of the working-class town, a place where most people left high school after 16 to start earning money. College was something that other people did, and opportunities elsewhere, like the U.S., seemed about as close as the moon. So, along with the rest of the boys he knew, McCartney joined his school football team, shoring up dreams of kicking his way into the Premier League.After his first few uninspiring games, his dad suggested he try something else. This was young Phil’s first lesson in editing and prioritizing, walking away from an okay idea for a better one. McCartney tried a running club, set up by local parents to keep their kids out of trouble. The families operated on a tight budget&nbsp;— his father installed drywall, and his mother worked in youth community building — and the rule within the club was that once you outgrew your trainers, you passed them down to a younger kid. McCartney was soon in possession of a pair of bright orange-red sneakers, replete with a yellow Swoosh as electric as lightening. “Imagine getting that as an 11-year-old kid,” he says. He loved them so much, he slept in them. “I had no idea what Nike was, didn’t know it was American, never even heard of Oregon.” But he knew how the shoes made him feel: invincible, strong, fast, capable.&nbsp;The first race he ever won — a 1,500-meter on the track — was in Nikes.He punctuates this story by pulling out a pair of those exact Nike Flame spikes on a January morning in Glo’s Cafe at the base of the LeBron James Innovation Building on Nike’s <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/how-nike-built-its-world-headquarters" target="_blank">Philip H. Knight Campus</a>. (These aren’t the same shoes he had as a youth, but rather a pair he tracked down later on.) They’re more than just leather and suede: The shoes are a reminder of his duality, who he is and who he’s been, and what has kept him going. The kid who filled his hours doodling sneakers; the teen who started working in retail to help support his family; the young man who applied for his dream job at Nike, becoming a Nike EKIN (because these experts are supposed to know the brand’s products backward and forward); and now, the leader who sets its strategy for innovation, design and product.McCartney knows persistence, intelligence and hard work brought him to where he is today, but for years, he says, he couldn’t help feelings of imposter syndrome, of thinking he was still that working-class kid from middle-of-nowhere-England pretending to be just as sophisticated as everyone else. To this day, he says, those feelings can creep in on him. “I’m proud of where I’m from, but there is just such a huge gap from where I was to where I am,” says McCartney. That fact makes it all the more important, he adds, to show his teams that they can be their authentic selves. “I want our people of all backgrounds to feel comfortable here,” he says, adding “it’s hard to be creative if you’re trying to be someone else at the same time.”McCartney credits some of this managerial approach to Vincent Coates, a Senior Director, Footwear Product Development Lead, for Global Football, who taught him that a great leader provides an environment for people to feel empowered. And Coates confirms that McCartney’s earned that: “I’d walk through a brick wall for Phil,” he says, calling him a leader who is as much at home leading an offsite to discuss footwear as he bringing the levity to diffuse the day-to-day pressure — like when he donned an Elvis outfit and sang Suspicious Minds to lighten the team mood (that story is fact-checked and confirmed). Coates says the company’s return to being a player in the global football market came from strategies like McCartney’s insistence on bringing siloed teams together. Before he took the role, Innovation sat separately from the Product and Marketing teams. Now they’re all connected and pulling toward the same focused goals. “Phil’s created a greater team and this culture of belonging, inclusivity and fun,” says Coates. “Yes, we have challenges. But now, because we’re figuring things out together, it’s an enjoyable journey. That’s the impact he has on people — he makes you want to be all in.”

Since childhood, sport has taken McCartney on some of the pivotal journeys of his life. Races gave him his first taste of exploring different parts of his home country and mixing with different people. With sport, “the world gets bigger and bigger,” he says. And because of his long-held dedication to running, he brings a particular empathy to his work and the plight of the athlete. He knows what it’s like to push yourself beyond what you think you could possibly do, to compete against yourself, to wake up at 5 am for a run, because that’s what he’s trained his mind and body to do. It’s a viewpoint he cherishes in his job, and one that athletes cherish within him. McCartney and legendary marathoner and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/eliud-kipchoge-radical-airflow-new-york-city-marathon" target="_blank">Nike athlete Eliud Kipchoge</a> have been friends for more than a decade, and the record-breaking runner says that he and McCartney talk about everything: innovation, trail shoes, blisters, their families, the future of the company. Kipchoge loves that they can do that while on a run. “It feels great for me to talk to someone who was an athlete himself, who is working with Nike and&nbsp;is among the decision-makers,” says Kipchoge.Listening to athletes is not only one of the most inspiring and motivating parts of the job, McCartney says, but a key to making it all work. “The biggest thing in innovation is to take a chance with the athletes and whatever ideas they might have,” he says, citing <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/six-reasons-why-breaking2-goes-beyond-26-2-miles" target="_blank">Breaking2</a>, the 2017 project that ultimately helped Kipchoge <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/10-greatest-nike-air-sports-moments" target="_blank">complete a marathon in under two hours</a>. “It leads to huge advancements in sport, human potential and technology, and we need those moments just to think differently and bigger."

Like Nike athletes, McCartney wants his team to be bold in their approach to innovation and creativity. He knows, though, that it all starts with him as a leader: “I’m always balancing care with competitiveness,” he says. “We’ve got to win. So how do you create the conditions to do that?” His role isn’t just to execute or delegate; he also wants to create the right conditions for people to do their best work. “We don’t need people to be told what to do; we have loads of incredibly talented people,” he says. “What they need is direction, trust and the air cover to go after something big.”While McCartney may still be a bit incredulous about leaving Newcastle, when he visits home, he likes to talk to the local kids about his journey: that you can go from being a young runner propelled by the potential in your soles to the executive who guides their production. And not only the sport science that helped create them, but the look, the feeling and the heat&nbsp;that make a new generation of kids wear those shoes to bed at night.That’s the standard the company’s embracing again under McCartney’s guidance — in the lab, in athlete conversations, in the prototype, in the edit, in the final product. Nothing less than epic sh*t.

*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer Phil McCartney knows what the bar is when it comes to innovation at the Swoosh. This is how he’s making sure the company’s products clear it.

Feature

What Creating Epic Means Inside Nike Now

On an early Wednesday morning in February, Amy Montagne stands in front of a small production team in the Serena Williams Building on the Philip H. Knight Campus in Beaverton, Oregon. The President of Nike has a presence — commanding, assured and dressed in hues of black. She stands on a makeshift stage while the crew adjusts the lights. Whether or not the camera’s recording, Montagne is on, personable and assertive and ready to go, despite waking up well before sunrise. She says the energy and passion it takes to do that day over day, week over week, comes from the shared dedication of the teammates surrounding her during her more than two decades with the company: “Bringing my A game is critical to my role, because I want to rise to the level of the people around me.”Montagne is filming a message for the global Nike Team Meeting in Milan, a thank you to the tens of thousands of worldwide employees for the hard work leading up to the winter’s major sport moments — the Super Bowl, All-Star Weekend, the Winter Olympics — and a rallying cry for the hard work everyone knows is still ahead. After her first read-through under the lights, a make-up artist dabs her face with a sponge while she listens to feedback. Her delivery — only two takes! — earns applause, and she laughs. “This is not a normal day,” she promises.But when a day in the life of the president of the world’s largest sports brand can encompass anything from lunching with premier athletes to leading meetings on global sport brand strategy to snapping a pic with Kim Kardashian for her Instagram grid during the NikeSKIMS launch in New York (this one jackpotted Montagne cool points with her triplet teenage sons), maybe the normalcy is found in accepting that every day will be different. And that’s exactly what she loves about it. “Each day, you get new information: People loved a certain product drop, a new sport campaign resonated with a specific community, an athlete’s authentic style led to a whole new way of dressing to compete,” she says. “The energy of that immediate response from people who love Nike is what inspires me.” The question that she has asked herself to guide each unique day over her two decades at the company remains the same: “How do we lead our teammates and this brand to greatness?”

When Elliott Hill accepted the NIKE, Inc. President &amp; CEO position in 2024, bringing the company back to its sport roots and focusing on the athlete was at the top of his to-do list. Nike needed a turnaround. After years of dominance, the brand was no longer the untouchable giant in the sports industry, and upstart brands were clawing away at the Swoosh marketshare. Nike’s once-clear mandate to be steeped in sport by listening and serving the athlete had turned murky. Finding a visionary leader to drive a vigorous reestablishment of the brand's credo was key, and the path to that had to be through strengthening the relationship with athletes (and that means Nike’s definition of “athlete” — anyone who has a body).Hill needed a trusted leader for the Nike brand who could lead its new Sport Offense, a plan that rebuilt the company and its priorities by sport, allowing teams to go deep on what those specific athletes need. This right-hand leader would need a not only a mind for end-to-end strategy, a commitment to innovation, and an adroitness for emotional storytelling, but also the skills to make deliberate choices to strengthen the business for the long term, activating Nike’s many levers to connect with athletes, sport communities and fans across the world. Hill had a clear choice: Amy Montagne.Over her 12 roles and 21 years at the company, Montagne had established herself as a healthy balance of left- and right-brain — an outside-the-box thinker who also uses “spreadsheet” as a verb — and was a motivating force behind Nike’s new sport-first operating model. “She always asks, ‘How is this connected back to sport, back to the athletes?’” says Hill, outlining her strategic filter. That comes from her unwavering dedication to the benefits of sport that go beyond playing: In high school, for example, Montagne tried out for the basketball team but didn’t make the cut. Instead of walking away, she doubled down and became the team’s statistician, a role that encapsulated her talent, her secret sauce: She can see the whole court, identify people’s unique abilities and skill sets, and use that data to help make the whole team better.

Montagne is a straight shooter, with the sort of no-filler management style that makes it clear what she’s thinking. If she works with you, she believes in you. And she’s the first to admit that she expects big things. But she knows that success is achieved only by pushing past what you think are your limits, and as a team. Charles Williams, Global Vice President of Footwear, wasn’t remotely surprised when Montagne became the president of the Nike brand. For years, he’d known her as a “courageous, empowering” leader, one who was just as likely to come meet Williams in his office as he is to meet her in hers. It’s a small gesture with a big ripple effect. Not only does it show respect for his time, says Williams, but it’s also an opportunity for more junior employees to get a bit of face time with her. Hill likens her to a coach and notes how many relationships she’s fostered during her time at Nike. “Because of Amy’s level of clarity and accountability, she builds trust with the team, and then you get the followership,” he says.Once, Montagne received feedback from her team that, while she has extremely high expectations, they knew that she has those same high bars for herself above all. “It was one of those moments where I felt really seen for who I am,” she says. And that approach has resulted in a genuine loyalty between Montagne and her teams — she gives people the tools, guidance and space to be great, and in return, they are.&nbsp;

Nike’s winning history is never far from Montagne’s mind. It excites her that everyone around her knows they have big, and well-made, shoes to fill. “Every product, every story we tell, every marketplace execution has to be done with uncompromising excellence,” she says. How does she make that happen? By asking honest questions. Is the product living up to our expectations, what we know this company is capable of? Is that the best way to tell the story? Is the execution the most premium, sustainable way we can do it? Did we give it absolutely everything?If that philosophy sounds almost unbelievably driven, well, that’s on purpose. And it’s what makes her ideal for the job. “Amy's the leader Nike needs right now,” says Hill, “and I believe the structure we have in place, the team she’s put in place, the expectation that she set, is going to give us that sharp clarity against the different consumers we’re serving, and that will unlock another wave of growth.”

Only recently has Montagne allowed herself — her full self — to be seen in the workplace. Early on in her career, working at the corporate headquarters for The Gap, in San Francisco, she was known for leaving her personal life at the door. Work was work, home was home, and never the two shall meet. “She has a strength to compartmentalize things to be able to move through adversity,” says Janet Hayes, her former coworker, longtime friend and current CEO of Crate &amp; Barrel. But that also meant that people had a harder time getting to know her. “I’m watching her now, in the last couple of years, become a different kind of leader who is braver and a little more vulnerable, and I think that’s an evolution of her leadership that’s going to take her far,” says Hayes.&nbsp;For Montagne, the shared trauma of the pandemic illuminated a new managerial approach. For the first time in her career, everyone she knew was going through the same struggle. There was no reason to pretend it wasn’t happening, so why not face it head on? The comfort that came with that allowed her to bring more of her personal life into the workplace. Not as a proselytizer, but as a person. “I am who I am because of the life experiences I’ve had,” she says. Having kids later in life, going through a difficult IVF journey, having triplets when she thought she was having a single child, and being all too familiar with grief and family loss&nbsp;— these are truths, as integral to understanding Montagne as her management style or work habits. “We all have these things, and you find the right ways to bring your personal and professional lives together; to be your true, authentic self; and to support people to be theirs,” she says.Seeing a leader like Montagne be vulnerable and sincere in the workplace has allowed others to do the same. “She’s a real one,” says Williams. “You need that in this organization, because it shows people they can be themselves.”

Montagne’s true self at Nike is pure energy. She has a palpable enthusiasm for the job, a humming aura around her. Her role today is a culmination of a steady focus throughout her career, starting from what drove her when she was working retail in high school in Arizona: a curiosity about the consumer. Even then, she was fascinated by buying habits. What do people like? Why do they buy the things they do? How does fit, color and style make a difference? That desire for understanding makes just as much sense for Montagne now as it did back then. “In a big company, driving billions of dollars of revenue, everything gets clear when you come back to a consumer and their insights,” she says. “Nike can seem so big, but in the end, we’re shop owners.”As an undergrad at Santa Clara University, she enrolled in the retail management institute, where that curiosity became a tenable career path: This was an actual job, being a buyer for a store. “And that was it!” she says. Her path unfurled before her, like a finger before it beckons. She graduated with a degree in communications, sharpening the storytelling skills that now drive Nike’s most simple and powerful message: that sport can change the world. That’s a fact Montagne’s seen time and time again, be it watching her kids commit to and improve at a new skill or being part of grand moments, like the Super Bowl or World Cup. “In a world today that has so much challenge and change, sport is the unifier that really brings people together,” says Montagne.

After graduation, she completed buyer training at Walmart headquarters and took a role as an allocation analyst at Gap Inc., capping off 11-hour days by running across the Golden Gate Bridge, training for marathons with friends. Her sport of choice has changed — now you’re more likely to find her in a pilates studio or cycling class — but her tenacity and drive for excellence is the same. Her husband, Pete, formerly a category manager at Nike, calls her the hardest worker he’s ever met. (Their pairing was a matter of fate; though they attended the same college, they didn’t meet until after graduating, when Pete was working at Nike and Amy had just started.) More than anything, Pete says, Amy is smart, sharp and prepared. Though that hasn’t always come easily; she’s had her fair share of shoot-down remarks, plenty of times where she’s been the only woman in the room, he says. “What she does that sets her apart is create a culture of inclusivity. She cares about her team, about mentorship, about elevating people’s careers.”

Her passion and commitment to champion women is well-represented in her office, on the fifth floor of the Sebastian Coe Building, where an oversize copy of the company’s 1996 print ad “If You Let Me Play” sits on her desk. Working with top athletes like A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins is one of the most fulfilling parts of her job, which includes “doing everything I can to show them support — that we want to learn, listen and meet them where they are, and keep doing that as they succeed,” she says. The bar isn’t what the world expects Nike to do. “It’s giving so much more than that,” she says, “what we know our athletes deserve.”When Montagne took over her current role in May 2025, she and her team went on a retreat to hammer out a clear vision for the Nike brand. The company will always be about sport, they contended, but the evolution had to come from following the lead of the Nike athlete. “They don’t compete just to be like anybody else,” she says. “They say, ‘I can do it better, faster, stronger, more stylish.’ They break things to be better — and that’s what we’re meant to do too.”

For Montagne, that means taking her vision of the Nike Sport Offense — establishing more than a dozen specific sport focuses and creating the teams that power them — and nurturing those sport cultures, from running and global football and basketball to golf, tennis, training and more. Each of these has its own personality, energy and nuances, and, essential for Nike, its own aesthetic. For example, the look of running, Montagne says, is style, for everyday and professional athletes alike. She points to Sha’Carri Richardson, who doesn’t run fast and break records in spite of her long nails or false lashes — she does so because of them, how they allow her to be her authentic self. Show up as the most real version of you, Montagne says, and you perform at your best. That’s a tenant that stretches across sports. “Look at the relaunch of the ACG brand at the Winter Games,” she points out. “The brand has legitimate outdoor legacy and innovation, and products that speak to an epic, unique style.”As our interview ends, Montagne is in her fifth floor office, seated at her desk and turning to the next events of the day: meetings, presentations, preparations. You can see her mind whirring, just like that high-school statistician. The court is bigger, but her diligence has remained the same. She’s surveying, watching her teams’ plays and noting what must happen next to make everyone, and the brand, better. The through line, to be sure, will be sport. To know where Nike is going next, look to where the energy is in the world behind sports, behind athletes. Wherever you find that, you’ll find Nike, supporting, listening, learning — and fiercely competing like no other.

With more than 20 years of experience over 12 roles, the brand President is guiding Nike’s new Sport Offense, taking the company back to its athlete-first roots, and strengthening the business for the long term.

Amy Montagne: The Force Returning Nike to Sport

After winning 73 singles titles, 14 doubles titles, four Olympic gold medals, and reigning as the No. 1 women's singles tennis player in the world for a collective six years, Serena Williams decided she was ready for a new challenge. In 2022, she announced that she was "evolving away" from tennis, playing her final match at the US Open that September against Ajla Tomljanovic. A retirement this was not: by that point, Serena Ventures, her venture capital firm, had raised more than $100 million dollars for start-ups focused on female and POC consumers, and she wanted to devote more time to growing that work even more. She was also 40, wanted another child, and knew that she didn't want to be pregnant and competing again. (She had her first child, Olympia, in 2017, eight months after she won the Australian Open, her 23rd Grand Slam, while eight weeks pregnant; she didn’t drop a single set.) Throughout her farewell tour, reporters and fans asked if she'd ever come back. She didn't say no. Now four years, and another daughter, Adira, later, the Nike athlete since 2003 is back on court. Her return competition is fitting — the Queen's Club tournament in London — where she’ll play doubles. Tennis has evolved since Williams took her pause, but then again, so has she. Below, in her own words, Williams shares her new outlook, why it's important for her daughters to see her return, and why she’s always believed in herself.

This return is not about wins or losses. I just want to have fun. I want to travel and I want to enjoy myself. I've always enjoyed tennis, but this time it's from a different angle. Every time I watched a tournament, I missed it. I miss the atmosphere. I miss the court.&nbsp; Still, what I'm looking for in a doubles partner is someone that wants to win and can win. I guess that hasn't changed! I’m choosing doubles because I'm not putting any pressure on myself to do singles right now. This is a good way to start for me.&nbsp; The only different thing in my training now is that I don't get angry. Although, yesterday, I did want to crack my racket. But I thought, ‘Serena, you're absolutely not going to do that.’ In the past, I would have. This moment is for my daughters too. I want them to see what a strong woman I am, who I am. Now, they'll be able to see what I do and the impact that I've had. There are so many different things that define excellence. But a lot of people don't understand the full work. We see lots of results that are really fast, things that seem like they happened overnight. But there's always some sort of sacrifice. To gain something, you have to not have something. You have to decide what it is. And sometimes, it's at a cost. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pressure can feel very heavy, but lighter if you step up to it and own it. There's this old saying, “He who doubts, loses.” Doubt is for those who don't want to win. You can't doubt yourself. I work very hard, but I also know I'm at a different stage in my life, so I learn how to get more bang for my buck without sacrificing my hard work.

Who Serena's Looking for In a Doubles Partner

When I first started playing tennis, I had to fight to just belong. As a woman, you have to fight to show what you have done, and what you can do. And not necessarily fight, but "calmly and confidently remind." When you're sure of yourself, it's ok to walk away and say, “This isn't for me right now.” I'm very fortunate that now I get to pick and choose the battles that I decide to fight. Some of those battles are great, especially if they involve my children, but other battles end with me saying, “You know what? Not my day today.” To stay on top, you have to welcome change. You have to pivot. Take learning AI, for example — I pivoted instantly. I don't wait, I don't think, I just do. That's how I've always been. Especially with my career, I've always thought, oh, Roger's doing that? I'm pivoting immediately. That's why I had the ability to play for so many years, I was always open to change. I changed my racket and my strings at a time where no one was doing it, and people thought that was really crazy. It was unheard of at the time. I did it, and then suddenly everyone else did it. My partnership with Nike is all about building and creating new. I can see Nike’s gotten back to <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/the-handshake-that-started-it-all" target="_blank">those roots of Phil</a>, starting each idea with “<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/phil-mccartney-is-showing-what-innovation-means-inside-nike-now" target="_blank">how do we help athletes</a>.” I love what's happening in <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nikeskims-introduces-studio-stretch-material-innovation-collection" target="_blank">NikeSKIMS</a>. It embodies innovation. When I first saw that, I called Kim and said, "This is genius." I have always believed in myself. Other people believing in you is fantastic, but let's face it, that doesn't always happen. And there's a lot of times where people will say things that make you not believe in yourself. Having your self-belief is so important. Then, it doesn't matter what happens — it won't change your foundation. It doesn't mean you self-believe in everything, because, quite frankly, I don't. I always have to go to my foundation and say, “This is what I'm great at, this is what I'm good at — now let's build on it.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The tennis champion has a new outlook, an important "why," and a belief in herself that's never gone away.

In Her Return to the Court, Serena Williams Reminds Us Why She’s the GOAT

There is a moment Martin Lotti still sees clearly in his mind. He was 16 years old, a Swiss exchange student standing in the original Niketown in Portland, Ore. — a kid from Fribourg, a town of fewer than 40,000 people, who had arrived in the Pacific Northwest for what was supposed to be two weeks and became a year. He left Niketown holding a pair of Air Max 180s and a Michael Jordan Wings poster, the one that reads:&nbsp;"No bird soars too high if it soars with its own wings."&nbsp;His host family snapped a photo of him outside the store, mid-Jumpman pose, arms wide, grinning.That photograph would travel with him across two decades of craft, curiosity and creative ambition. And one day, while serving as Chief Design Officer for the Jordan Brand, Lotti stood in front of Michael Jordan himself and showed him the image."This is why I fell in love with the brand as a 16-year-old,"&nbsp;he says, sitting at the Philip H. Knight Campus on a cool February morning, dressed in an immaculate all-white fit that reflects an understated confidence.&nbsp;"To have the person from the poster over your bed actually standing in front of you — that was surreal. One of those moments where you think: How did I get here?"

Getting to Nike was never a straight line — and that, Lotti will tell you, is exactly the point. After finishing high school in Switzerland, he enrolled at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. A woman in his visual communications class mentioned she'd interned at Nike, which piqued his curiosity. He sent in an application, Nike sent back a job offer. He would later marry that classmate, Linda Mai-Lotti, a detail he shares with a quiet smile that suggests he still can't quite believe his own story.What Nike represented to Lotti, and still does, was something he didn't have a word for growing up in Europe.&nbsp;"In Switzerland, it's more step by step,"&nbsp;he says.&nbsp;"The leash gets longer one step at a time. Whereas in the U.S., the opportunity is just …there for the taking. It doesn't matter how old you are or where you're from. If you can bring it, you get the chance to design it."That belief — that potential has no ceiling — became the foundation of how Lotti designs, leads and sees the world.

Today, Lotti serves as Nike’s Chief Design Officer, representing the Swoosh in major cultural moments such as <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-and-dropcity-preview-air-lab-an-innovative-space-for-creatives-in-milan-s-center" target="_blank">Milan Design Week</a>, and overseeing product and concept design across the company — an enormous responsibility he approaches with the same grounded clarity that has defined his career. A good designer is a good listener first, he says, because creation is so reliant on input, from the athletes, of data sets, for how to support the product with the right storytelling. The why of your creation — who you're creating for and what problem you're solving — is what delineates a designer from an artist. "Design is not just executing or sketching; we are problem solvers," Lotti says. "<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/bill-bowerman-nike-s-original-innovator" target="null">Bill Bowerman</a> baked this into the DNA of the company: You create for a reason, not just because you can." He also points out that this is no simple task. "Creativity is often romanticized. It's painful! I think it's like a marathon. It takes time, you have to lean in, and in the end you're exhausted and elated."The drive to continue that process runs deep within Lotti. There is a phrase he returns to again and again, a quiet north star beneath everything he creates:&nbsp;making people fly.&nbsp;He didn't fully understand its weight until his team began working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he watched critically ill children choose, as their wish, to spend time with Jordan Brand designers."Not everyone can be Michael Jordan, but everyone can make someone feel something," he says, his voice measured, the words deliberate.&nbsp;"After something like that, you don't come in the next day and just make another shoe."He invokes Steve Jobs' idea of leaving a dent in the universe — of finding your platform and using it with intention.&nbsp;"We have this reach, and I don't take it for granted,"&nbsp;he says.&nbsp;"It's not just an opportunity. It's an obligation to make an impact." That impact is felt within Nike too. "There's no one who pushes me more than Martin," says <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/company/people/nicole-graham" target="_blank">Nicole Graham</a>, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer. "He's so good that it makes you want to be better; he'll come up with a great idea, which will make you want to come up with a great idea." That mindset, says Graham, comes from the way Lotti looks at the world. "He can walk down the street and see 18 different things that could be interesting for a project that we're working on — color, material, font, topography. He lives and breathes creativity and design."

Lotti's design philosophy goes beyond aesthetics or function. He wants his teams to truly understand athletes — not just what they need from a product, but what drives them, what they carry onto the field, what makes them feel seen and inspired.In 2014, a Brazilian footballer described his&nbsp;why&nbsp;to Lotti's team:&nbsp;"We play for the love of the game and for the love of Brazil,"&nbsp;the player said, grabbing his shirt as he spoke. The gesture unlocked something. The jersey wasn't just a piece of clothing; it was a symbol of pride, an encapsulation of purpose.That year, the team printed in Portuguese&nbsp;"nascido para jogar futebol"&nbsp;— born to play football — on the inside of the jersey. So that every time a player placed his hand over his heart during the national anthem, he'd feel the purpose beneath it."You aren't just listening to what athletes say about what they need,"&nbsp;Lotti says.&nbsp;"You want to hear the person. You want to understand what makes them tick."Sometimes, Lotti and his team's inspiration is more abstract. It surfaces in the raked gravel of a Zen garden in Kyoto, Japan, which became the outsole geometry of the Nike Kyoto, the brand's first yoga-inspired shoe, its upper a subtle nod to the kimono's wrap. Or it can live in the stark, earthy palette of Iceland, which shaped a fall and holiday training collection.This is one of the quiet gifts of being based in Portland, he says. You’re required to go out, seek, learn. "We’re more global citizens, which I love, because so many doors open up when you go to new places.”

His wife Linda describes Lotti as an athlete — not just literally (he competed and taught snowboarding), but in the way he approaches his craft. When their professor in school assigned 10 sketches, Martin did 20. Not because he had to, but because the work was alive to him, and the push to keep refining it would never rest. Curiosity, for Lotti, isn't something you switch off.That energy surfaces everywhere. A recent trip to a car dealership ended with a salesperson offering him a job, only half-jokingly. He'd arrived knowing more about every model and option than the staff.&nbsp;"He's able to stay focused and keep working until he plows through it and finds the solution,"&nbsp;Linda says.&nbsp;"Like an elite athlete with a relentless drive to grow and perfect. Just in a very different arena."We're sitting in the Energy Product Design space in the Mia Hamm building, and Lotti is flipping through the pages of the Nike Design Annual, a thick-stock magazine containing a sweeping overview of the best that the Nike brand has done in the past year, through a range of sport, athlete and product moments. “We’re so focused on the future, being able to look back is almost cathartic, and it allows us to set a benchmark: if you want to be in this book, it has to be a certain level,” Lotti says. “It’s a way to celebrate the team.”The team Lotti's gathered, says Graham, is unmatched. "One of Martin's most meaningful contributions to Nike is the creative community he's nurtured," she says. "When you're on Martin Lotti's team, you feel like you're one of the most creative people in the world — and that's exactly what he wants you to feel, how he's empowered people to feel." You see the impact of that in this year's Nike Design Annual, which includes 25 of the most innovative pieces the company produced in 2025. Many are feats of the unexpected, breaking the mold — like the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/what-is-nike-radical-airflow" target="null">Nike Radical AirFlow</a> long-sleeve for ultra-marathons. People were skeptical at first of the long-sleeve jersey meant to cool you down, says Lotti, with some even affectionately dubbing it the "Christmas sweater." Lotti laughs about it even now. “Believing is wearing it,” he says, “it’s like air conditioning for your body. You pump your arms while you run, and the material creates little cyclones of airflow. That’s its geometry — it’s naturally cooling.”

Throughout our conversation, Lotti emphasized the uniqueness of working on design at a company like Nike: the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/what-is-nike-air-liquid-max" target="_blank">cutting-edge technology</a>, like the nascent ability to create prototypes from 3D printers or virtual mockups; the eye toward sustainability, shown in&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-aero-fit-official-images" target="null">the new base material, Aero-FIT</a>, for&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/collections/nike-football-unveils-2026-federation-kits-featuring-aero-fit-performance-cooling-technology" target="null">all football jerseys</a> that are more breathable for athletes&nbsp;and&nbsp;have a lower environmental impact to create; the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/meet-the-nike-mind-team" target="null">Mind Science team</a>, which focuses on improving athlete experience from the neck up.This depth and range creates the perfect balance of humanness, enterprise and technology that Lotti seeks. That even the executive chairman, Mark Parker, shares Lotti's design background makes Lotti’s work all the more fulfilling. “It makes our life so much easier to see design as part of the foundation of the company," he says, dancing his fingertips over the tabletop. "It’s not an afterthought. It’s central to everything we do.”That belief extends to how Lotti thinks about risk — not as something to manage, but as something to embrace, to push Nike to new places. "Calculated risk is what athletes do every day," he says. "They don’t try to replicate their fastest time or most powerful serve or heaviest weight, they want to be better. The best."Why shouldn't we all?

"Design is not just executing or sketching," says the Chief Design Officer. "We are problem solvers."

Martin Lotti is Driving a New Wave of Creativity at Nike

For kids around the world, going pro in a sport is the ultimate dream. But seeing is believing, and for Indigenous youth in particular, there are fewer professional athletes to look up to. But Madison Hammond — who is a member of the San Felipe Pueblo (Katishtya) and Navajo (Diné) tribe, Black, and a defensive midfielder for the Utah Royals — had a role model. Her uncle, Notah Begay III, was a professional golfer on the PGA Tour who started the NB3 Foundation, one of the nonprofits that Nike and the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/mission/initiatives/n7-fund" target="_blank">N7 Fund</a> have supported, when she was a child. “At the time, I didn’t fully understand how close I was to excellence,” Madison, the first Native American athlete in the NWSL, says. “I think in Indigenous communities, excellence isn’t always the first attribute that’s given to us, but it was ingrained in me from a really young age.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Growing up in New Mexico, Madison started playing soccer when she was 5. At the age of 9, she moved with her mother to Arlington, Virginia, and was catapulted into the highly competitive world of youth soccer. There, her coaches told her that if she put in the work, she had the potential to be as good as she wanted to be — and it became her mantra.&nbsp;Returning to San Felipe Pueblo during summer vacations, Madison attended an NB3 Foundation–sponsored summer camp, where she played soccer all day on a turf field provided by the foundation. She could see the reservation’s sacred hills from the bright green pitch, a stark contrast to the surrounding brown landscape. By playing on a team with other Native American girls, Madison was able to immerse herself both in her culture and her sport. It was empowering.&nbsp;&nbsp;Here, in her own words, Madison tells us about chance, circumstance, her road to success, and the legacy she hopes to leave other young Indigenous athletes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Record: When did you first realize that you had a real talent for soccer?Madison Hammond: I was around 10 or 11 years old when that feeling first kicked in. I knew that I didn’t just want to be good, I wanted to be great.TR: You’ve talked about your uncle as your role model. How has he inspired you?MH: My uncle was a professional golfer and a Nike athlete. I think he’s inspired me in two different ways. One, the fact that he was the first Native American in his sport as well. He also established the NB3 foundation, which has been around my whole life. I played on a team that was through his foundation, and my other uncle was my coach. Being able to do that on our reservation with other girls that were from San Felipe Pueblo was really impactful for me. That’s just not what I have been able to do throughout my whole soccer journey. I’ve typically been one of the only Black/Brown girls on the team. I didn’t realize how impactful it would be for me 20 years later.TR: When did you know that you wanted to play professionally?MH: I didn’t go into college soccer with the intention of playing professionally. I went into it wanting to be the best I could be. That has been my mindset my entire life: As long as I am improving, as long as I’m getting better, nothing will stop me.TR: Have there been any major hurdles along the way?MH: I went to a college that was primarily white and very affluent, and I felt like I was out of my depth. It was the first time that I had to challenge myself to remember who I was and to remember what my values were and why they made me successful as a soccer player. Everything comes back to my traditional beliefs.

Madison at four years old playing soccer on the Young Dragons team in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Madison at five, photographed with her aunt during a traditional celebration in San Felipe Pueblo.

Madison in elementary school playing soccer for Prince William Soccer Club in Woodbridge, Virginia.

TR: What was the transition like from playing college to playing professionally?MH: In college, I played every game, I rarely came off the field, I played 90 minutes and out, I was captain my junior and senior year, I was named second-team All-ACC — everything was hard, but it was also easy. Everyone tells you you’re the best, everyone tells you all these amazing things about yourself. And then you get to the pro level and you’re a rookie, and literally you are back to the bottom after over a decade of playing soccer. They don’t teach you the coping mechanisms for that.TR: How did you deal with that?MH:&nbsp;I think because of who I am and the family that raised me, I never really addressed when things were difficult. Being able to validate an experience, like, “It’s okay to be upset, it’s okay to not always be perfect, it’s okay to not always achieve that excellence that you are pursuing every single day.” I was so used to “rub some dirt in it, get over it, if you’re having a bad day just push it down.” Pushing all of that down for my whole life came up in these crazy ways my first few years as a pro, where you’re suddenly doubting yourself and your confidence is dampened because you are not playing a game. I realized that I put too much value in just being on the field and put not enough value in the fact that I’d made it to this level.TR: When you reflect on your journey, what has changed? What have you learned since you started playing professionally?MH: I can see how easily doubt and hesitation can derail a career. This is my seventh year as a professional soccer player. Personally, I don’t think I ever gave myself enough credit for being a good soccer player until I was older and was able to look back. In the moment, you feel like you are executing the mission every single day. You come in, you train hard, you play hard. But I don’t think I gave myself the credit I’d earned. One thing I want to get better at is celebrating my journey.

Madison and TJ Kahoalii, a soccer player who is Tolowa Dee-Ni' Nation and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) are the faces of Nike’s summer ‘26 N7 Collection.

TR: What does this <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nike.com/n7-native-american-indigenous-heritage" target="_blank">N7 Collection</a> represent to you? How does it feel to now have a role in bringing it to life?MH: To me, N7 represents opportunities for education and conversation and shows how incredible all these different communities and tribes are. I think that this collection shows that we can be a part of the mainstream culture. It is a dope example of Indigenous design influences, and it’s come together into something that feels really authentic. There’s a design motif that mimics a modern pueblo; the colors represent the mountainous terrain, clay and water. All of these things bring so much meaning to me, my family and my people.&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-s-new-n7-collection-celebrates-indigenous-communities-on-and-off-the-pitch" target="_blank">It feels like such an honor to have this N7 Collection come to life</a> and have it centered around soccer and Indigenous people from the Southwest — and to be the face of it. It is a unique blend of everything I am.TR: What is your goal as a representative of your community?MH: As a woman of color, one of my foundational pillars is to be an active participant in the communities that I occupy. I think having that consistency in my traditions and beliefs has given me the confidence to live bravely in the sports world. It can be a lonely place, and by using the innate experiences that I have access to as an Indigenous and Black woman, I can approach every team I’m on with the same perspective and desire to be an active participant and the best teammate that I can be.TR: How would you like to inspire the next generation of Native American athletes?MH: I think the best way I could inspire the next generation of Native athletes is to continue striving for on-field excellence and remember to give back to where I came from. Now there are Native athletes doing amazing things; there’s Janee’ Kassanavoid and SilentRain Espinoza. It makes me feel really positive to know that I’m not alone in carrying that message of visibility and opportunity. It’s a reminder that when you give pathways to people in my community, we will deliver.TR: What kind of legacy do you want to leave?MH: I hope to be a reminder to young people that if you come from a small town, it’s okay. If you come from a small community, it’s okay. You can still make it to this level.

"When you give pathways to people in my community, we will deliver," says the Utah Royals defensive midfielder.

How I Got Here

On the Road to Excellence, Madison Hammond Is Celebrating the Journey

See What Drives Us

Stories from inside NIKE, Inc.

Story Landing

3-Minute Portrait

Emma Hayes 3-Minute Portrait

Emma Hayes Tells You How to Succeed in Sports

3-Minute Portrait Alysa Liu

Alysa Liu’s Best Advice for Sports and Life

3-Minute Portrait Juju Watkins

JuJu Watkins On Her Natural Competitive Advantage

What would the back of your athlete trading card say? That’s what Nike’s Baseline testing is for: A way for all athletes to understand their physical tools.What It DoesNike's Baseline testing, made up of five assessments, is as foundational as it sounds. The assessments are borrowed from the worlds of biomechanics, physical therapy and exercise science, and can be completed in a matter of minutes: a 3D body scan, a foot scan, a barefoot pressure test, an ankle range of motion test and countermovement jumps. In many ways, Baseline is the most ubiquitous tool that the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) offers. Every professional athlete who visits the NSRL has the option of doing the testing, no matter their itinerary. But that doesn't mean it's a resource exclusive to a precious few. Baseline is the one test series in the NSRL that's also open to every Nike employee.Considered together, the test results form the baseline of a person’s athletic profile — how powerful they are, how mobile they are, how explosive they are, and other traits. Knowing these attributes gives Nike researchers, scientists and designers a clearer picture of how to serve an athlete's needs.

Baseline helps provide foundational knowledge of an athlete’s body, connecting anatomical structure, foot and lower body mechanics, and functional movement.

The three-dimensional foot scale measures foot shape during normal standing. The reported sizing can be a starting point for shoe or product fit.

Barefoot walking helps asses areas of high and low pressure underfoot. Seeing these areas of elevated pressure can help uncover an athlete’s gait pattern.

Range of motion in the ankles and the toes, tested in different directions, can help determine joint function.

Performance jumps can be an indication of lower body strength, power and asymmetry.

Data from Baseline testing go beyond describing an athlete's current state. It can also shed light on an athlete's past, like what sport they played or what injuries they sustained.

What It Helps Us DoJackie Shea, Baseline Operator, Innovation, says Nike researchers selected each of the&nbsp;Baseline tests to set an experiential, diagnostic tone for every athlete interaction within the NSRL. Before the opening of the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/inside-the-nike-sports-research-lab-lebron-james-innovation-center" target="null">LeBron James Innovation Center</a> in October 2021, athlete engagement in the lab was largely reserved for testing footwear and apparel prototypes. There’s nothing wrong with that, says Shea, a former D1 athlete who studied kinesiology and exercise science. But that process largely treats the athlete as a test pilot secondary to the vehicle — the product — they are steering. “We wanted Baseline to help bring athletes to the center of the lab, distinct from product,” she says.&nbsp;Through their Baseline results, athletes can see nuances in their athletic profile. Are you geared toward slower endurance or more explosive power? Your vertical jump results might point you toward an answer. Does your anatomy from the 3D body scan suggest you have any imbalances in your proportions? These results are valuable to athletes for their own sake. You don’t need to test a product to gain a better awareness of your own body.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

After guiding more than 4,000 athletes through Baseline, Shea has learned to spot trends in physical profiles among different sports while offering remedies via other Nike tools. For example, runners tend to have weak posterior strength, so in their back, glutes and hamstrings. They stand the most to gain from consistent weight training, provided in the hundreds of workouts from the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.nike.com/ntc-app" target="_blank">Nike Training Club App</a>. Athletes who play lateral sports, like basketball, tend to have limited mobility, so a Nike yoga class at a nearby store might be just what they need to balance out.Key to Shea’s job is a fair amount of myth-busting when discussing test results. An athlete might comment on how running hurts their knees, but when they test their ankle mobility, the athlete grimaces, looking stiff as a board. They test their gait on <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/nike-nsrl-form" target="_blank">NSRL Form</a> — a recent addition to the test lineup — and are clearly overstriding. With each step, most of their force is displaced through their knees and their back instead of transferred evenly through their body. Running doesn’t hurt their knees, the way they run hurts their knees. Baseline results help give athletes a course of action for what troubles them the most.&nbsp;

Baseline does play a role in ensuring that Nike researchers test products efficiently and orient them toward real solutions. For example, Baseline results are a common way for NSRL researchers to recruit for new studies. An athlete with strong results in explosive vertical jumping power is an ideal fit for a future basketball jumping study that tests a new hoops silhouette. A distance runner, on the other hand, might find a steady-state treadmill run in the <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/nike-sport-research-lab-environmental-chambers" target="_blank">climate chambers</a> a better match, which in turn can help scientists evaluate the latest sweat-wicking material innovations like <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-aero-fit-official-images" target="null">Aero-FIT</a>. As more and more athletes do Baseline, the lab’s research specificity gets sharper and sharper. The same is true for product development.&nbsp;That process is ongoing. A Baseline evaluation is never the end of the story. It’s the beginning of a conversation.&nbsp;“Baseline creates relationships with athletes that aren’t passive, but active,” says Shea. “The conversations between athletes and their test results are in a constant cycle with each other. One of my favorite parts in this job is getting to ask follow-up questions. You’re showing some imbalance between your left leg power and your right leg. Did you have some kind of injury to your leg early on? Tell me more. There’s always more to every athlete’s story.”

What would the back of your athlete trading card say? That’s what the Nike Sport Research Lab's Baseline testing is for: A way for all athletes to understand their physical tools.

John Shiel photographs the truth of Innovation—unpolished, intimate and in progress. He explores the choreography of art, science, and athletes, documenting an honest record of Nike Innovation’s inner life, covering the rebels, dreamers, and makers who are forging the future of sport.He leads the Creative Studio in Nike Innovation, tracking the next frontier of Innovation stories that have the power to inspire athletes everywhere.

John Shiel

Sport Science

Next Level

The NSRL Baseline Testing

January 25, 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 Handshake That Started It All

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 mom 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 track 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 labor lawyer who would later become publisher of the Oregon Journal, introduced him to Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman. The two older men had gone to college together at the University of Oregon. 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 program 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 run and took fourth at the state meet. By fall, he’d earned a spot on Bowerman’s track 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 college or join the military, William Knight wrote to him that fall.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 realized 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 —&nbsp;not 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 fall 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 Track to Business

By the time Knight graduated from Oregon in 1959 with a degree in business, his competitive drive had shifted from the track 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 college. 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 U.S. — 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 inquiry 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 artifacts 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

Every image tells a story. Here, a Nike photographer breaks down one of their favorite photographs and the unique sport moment it represents.

Photographer Geoff Lowe reflects on the Nike Cross Nationals

Geoff Lowe on building his NXN composite shot

“The finish line of a cross-country meet turns into a canvas of exhausted bodies. It’s a scene where runners are finally coming to terms with giving their full effort. This year would be my first time shooting <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/nike-cross-nationals-2024-official-images" target="_blank">Nike Cross Nationals</a> in Portland. The anticipation for this shot in particular began weeks before the event. I knew I wanted to use an overhead drone at the finish line, and I knew I wanted to make a composite image of the men’s and women’s races, so I could share the unified experience of the runners completely gassed at the end.In reality, I was going to have one to two minutes to get the shots I wanted after each race, when the competitors made it to the finish line. I worked ahead of time to fly the drone directly above the finish line and above the NXN logo with an unobstructed view. But there were a lot of things I had to consider, like accounting for the gusting winds, the possible changes in exposure as the light changed with the moving clouds, and coordinating air space with the other drone pilots, to name a few. As I started piecing the image together, I knew it was getting at the emotion I wanted: showing the exhaustion from these runners in their pursuit of glory, giving everything they had.”

— Geoff Lowe See more of Geoff’s work on Instagram <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/geofflowe/" target="_blank" class="ql-size-small">@geofflowe</a>

Geoff Lowe is a dynamic sports photographer originally from South Africa, now based in Italy. With a background in track and field, he brings a unique insider’s perspective to his photography, capturing the emotion, rhythm, and intensity of athletes in motion. His images go beyond documentation; they turn athletic performance into visual poetry. Known for his artistic composite technique, Lowe uses ultra-fast sequences to create layered images that reveal movement over time — sprinting, jumping, swimming, and diving — all unfolding in a single frame.

Geoff Lowe

Nike Cross Nationals famously takes everything a cross-country runner's got — here's what the sum of that looks like across dozens of runners, from photographer Geoff Lowe.

The Nike Moment

What It Looks Like to Finish On Empty

In running shoe jargon,&nbsp;pronation&nbsp;is a word that gets a bad rap. If you pronate, the thinking goes, you need correction. But there’s more going on than that.<h3>How to Understand It</h3>Everybody pronates when they run. “It’s a natural motion,” says Emily Farina, PhD, Senior Principal Researcher in the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL). With each step, your foot rolls inward and a bit forward as it hits the ground. Technically, this is what pronation is: a combination of ankle eversion and external rotation.&nbsp;What’s the point of pronation? When you walk or run, your ankle needs to help stabilize your body mass as your foot crashes into the ground. That stabilization requires three-dimensional movement at the ankle to act like a shock absorber and keep the body headed where it wants to go.

Pronation is one step in the sequence of how we run, says Farina. It can’t be isolated from the rest of your body. “When we design and test our running shoes, we study pronation holistically and look up the kinetic chain to examine effects at the knee. Then we research how pronation can be supported through product choice.”The kinetic chain, which is how your joints, muscles and other parts of the body work together to produce force and movement, treats your body as a system. Each part of your body has a role to play. Take your ankle. It might roll from side to side too fast, too much, or at the wrong time in relationship to the rest of your body. For eversion, when the ankle rolls inward, the research is mixed on the outcomes of trying to mitigate it. But literature suggests that for those who need it,&nbsp;focusing on ankle motion and&nbsp;the forces acting on your knee from either side are important to cut back on running-related injuries. It’s not&nbsp;either-or but&nbsp;and, because&nbsp;not all joints move in the same way.&nbsp;Your ankle can handle some eversion. Your knee isn’t meant to torque sideways.&nbsp;Again, think of the kinetic chain. The body is a system.To address pronation and still help reduce the pounding from running, it’s essential to solve for both cushioning and stability, which is what NSRL researchers have done in the new Structure 26.How We Approach ItTo keep your ankle from being too&nbsp;loose, you’ll find a host of “stability shoes” throughout the market, many of which&nbsp;try to address the ankle-movement issue with features that focus on the angle of eversion, or how much your ankle is moving side to side. The most extreme of these “motion control” stability shoes use medial posting — tough components that are attached to a rigid midsole — to force your ankle through a more limited range of motion. But research from the NSRL has found that this can send harmful loads up the chain to the knee.Nike designers found a more natural approach to controlling eversion in the Structure 26.&nbsp;

Structure 26 in the NSRL

Here, the foot’s arch sits above a wide base and is wrapped in a supportive midfoot system. The midsole has a full bed of ReactX foam, which helps you roll forward smoothly from heel to toe-off (the Structure 25 had a Zoom Air unit in the forefoot and Cushlon 3.0 throughout the midsole). The shoe’s outsole has added rubber in areas that can get worn down due to the ankle’s side-to-side movement, like the inside edge of the heel. All of this gives the Structure 26 increased durability and can help lead the runner through a more confident eversion pattern.&nbsp;The true pronation needs for each runner come down to a combination of perception and personal history, says Farina.“Our research tells us a few things hold true: Find the right balance of cushioning with inherent stability, and you can help a runner address their unique pronation pattern."

A Nike running expert unpacks a common misconception.

Ask a Sport Scientist

Is It Bad That I Pronate When I Run?

The 200-meter track in the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) is more than a workout space. It’s a supercharged testing environment that allows Nike scientists to study how athletes move while wearing new shoes and technologies — and how to make those products the best in the industry.

<h3>What It Does</h3>Look up, and you’ll see one example of the track’s capabilities: Above the two lanes and rigged onto steel erectors is a collection of high-res motion-capture (“mo-cap”) cameras that can collect 250 snapshots of reflective marker data per second as an athlete moves around the track. Look down: Force plates situated beneath the track’s rubber surface collect up to 2,500 contact-force data points per second as an athlete hits the ground.NSRL researchers can set an LED pace light system, or “rabbit,” along the track’s innermost lane for paces from casual walking all the way to simulating world record times. The track also has practical features ideal for testing product across a variety of surfaces. For example, both the backstretch and the homestretch have a concrete lane to simulate running on sidewalks and roads.

<h3>What It Helps Us Do</h3>An athlete like Faith Kipyegon makes running look effortless. The NSRL track's capabilities help scientists quantify the poetry of her elite athleticism. Last year, in preparation for her attempt to break the four-minute mile, Kipyegon visited the NSRL, undergoing multiple tests on the track. Scientists placed mo-cap sensors over her body to analyze how a range of Nike spike prototypes influenced her gait pattern. In another test, a data-informed resistance sprint device was attached to Kipyegon to measure her power output at full speed. Near the track, Nike researchers tapped into an array of testing tools to measure Kipyegon's aerobic and anaerobic profile, such as her V02 max.

Faith visited the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL) for tests that would guide the team in creating one-of-one products to help her achieve her goal of breaking the 4-minute mile.

An athlete's foot strike can change from spike prototype to prototype, so researchers placed mo-cap sensors across Kipyegon's footwear to see how her spike selection influenced her running efficiency.

Above the NSRL track is a collection of high-res motion-capture cameras collecting 250 snapshots of reflective marker data per second as an athlete moves around the loop.

Testing for Breaking4

Nike uses nuanced testing environments like the track to study not just the traits of elite athletes, but the types of wearable technologies that can help every athlete move more efficiently. Enter Project Amplify, a powered footwear system designed to act like an e-bike for the human body. Nike research teams logged most of its 1,500 miles from test participants on the NSRL track. That’s more than 12,000 laps, with data measured from over 2.4 million steps.&nbsp;To keep up with the participants, Nike scientists actually used a motorized scooter and rode around the track during experiments to log real-time data on the device.

The world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking, Project Amplify is designed to augment natural lower leg and ankle movement, acting almost like a second set of calf muscles.

Built on motion algorithms informed by the Nike Sport Research Lab, the first-generation footwear system is comprised of a lightweight, powerful motor; drive belt; and rechargeable cuff battery that integrates with a carbon fiber–plated running shoe.

Project Amplify

For Project Amplify, the volume of data researchers measured on the track was crucial to quantify how an athlete moves, the amount of energy they're using, and how they feel while they're moving. When testing for Amplify’s metabolic benefit — whether athletes could move farther while using the same amount of energy — Nike researchers found that many athletes experienced a metabolic boost while running. For those who saw the greatest benefit, it was like going from a 12-minute mile to a 10-minute mile while expending the same amount of effort. Walking benefits were even greater.Of course, sometimes you need the immediate validation of seeing how you’re faster than you were before. NSRL researchers programmed the track’s LED pace light system to do a runner’s typical, non-augmented pace — say, that 12-minute mile — then asked the participant to wear Project Amplify and try to hold their usual speed. Many of the athletes found it a challenge to slow down and keep even — they almost couldn’t help moving faster. They found a capability they didn’t know they had in them. And the NSRL track was a crucial tool in helping them find it.&nbsp;

NSRL Track, Faith

When Nike researchers create the sports innovations of the future, they tap into this one-of-one space.

The NSRL Fieldhouse Track

Athletes don’t compete in a vacuum, but having them train in a controlled setting can help Nike researchers design the most innovative apparel to help them compete. Introducing the environmental chambers in the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL), which can mimic nearly any environment an athlete might face. <h3>What They Do</h3>Thermoregulation, or the study of how you regulate your temperature when you're moving, happens in your body through a natural, physiological response: sweat. When your sweat evaporates, your body can cool down.&nbsp;Nike's environmental chambers help researchers study thermoregulation up close and personal with athletes. The NSRL has three different chambers for athlete testing, each named after a different Olympic venue (Rio, Sydney and Athens) and each studying the crossover between thermoregulation, apparel design and athlete performance. The chambers allow scientists to test how different variables impact either the heat load on an athlete's body or the regulation of an athlete's body temperature through sweat evaporation.In the chambers, researchers can dial the temperature anywhere from -4 degrees F to 122 degrees F. Radiant heat with special bulbs can match the intensity of the sun's rays (there’s variance within perceptions of “hot”; anyone who does a summertime road run in Los Angeles will tell you it’s a very different setting from running in the streets of Miami). Scientists can also generate wind speeds up to 11 mph.“In the chambers, we can fine-tune our regulation of temperature, humidity, airflow, and radiant heat so we can re-create the conditions in which athletes perform,” says Grant Simmons, PhD, Sr. Principal Researcher, Thermoregulation. “These tools help us understand athlete challenges, their interaction with clothing, and the benefits of product solutions designed to make them better."

The Nike Sport Research Lab’s environmental chambers help Nike researchers study the interaction between athletes, their apparel and their environment.

Ultrarunner Drew Holmen testing the new Nike Radical AirFlow top in the Sydney environmental chamber.

At the end of a session in the Rio chamber, scientists measure the athlete’s weight, the weight of the sweat in their apparel and the weight of the sweat in a pan underneath them to isolate the exact amount of sweat that’s evaporated.

In the Sydney chamber, athletes wear body sensors as they run on a treadmill that cover a range of data: skin temperature, heart rate, core body temperature and more.

After an athlete works out, they drape the sweaty garment they wore over a manikin and a thermal camera displays where the sweat is accumulating in the product.

<h3>What They Help Us Do</h3>In the Rio chamber, scientists study athletes in the heat to identify new opportunities for Nike DriFIT innovation. Here, the NSRL uses custom methods, developed specifically for the LeBron James Innovation Center, where the NSRL is housed, to study an athlete’s sweating efficiency, or the percentage of your sweat that evaporates to cool you during exercise. If you have sweat pouring down your forehead or dripping down your back or soaking your shirt or bra, you’re not sweating efficiently. The more efficiently you sweat, the slower you dehydrate, and the longer you can run, dance, play basketball, or compete in your chosen sport. As an athlete works out on a stationary bike, scientists use several different weight scales and custom engineered equipment to break down their sweating response into separate parts. By isolating the evaporated sweat from the sweat that drips off the body, beads up on your skin, or is absorbed and retained in clothing fabric, scientists can map the outcome of every gram of sweat secreted during exercise. This allows them to study the sweating response like they’d study a household budget; identifying areas of waste and opportunities to be more efficient by reducing excess sweat that dehydrates the athlete, but doesn’t cool them down.Nike scientists also need to pinpoint where athletes tend to sweat so apparel designers can embed sweat-wicking properties in high-need areas. This is the kind of detective work that happens in the Sydney chamber. Recorded by surface-mounted cameras, athletes wear a range of body sensors as they run on a treadmill. The sensors cover a range of data: skin temperature, heart rate, core body temperature and more. The goal of these studies is to understand the distinct needs for individual athletes during exercise, revealing preferences based on different metabolic states and environments. After an athlete works out, they drape the sweaty garment they wore over a manikin and a thermal camera displays where the sweat is accumulating in the product (the sweat is cooling the apparel fabric as it evaporates). Nike scientists ask athletes to drape the apparel over the manikin, versus evaluating it on body, so they can get past the complications in variations in skin temperature, which can influence the thermal imaging. Apparel designers use this info for computational design to “zone” a garment with the right kinds of sweat-wicking materials, tuned for areas of high or low sweat. The Sydney chamber helps scientists see sweat in a new light, literally.When scientists need to control even more variables, they tap the Athens chamber. It houses two of the NSRL’s primary tools to study sweat: a pair of thermal manikins named Hal (male) and Haley (female). These adult-sized manikins have a copper shell with a precisely-regulated temperature; the shell measures heat loss across 30 different zones over their body surface. That measurement helps Nike scientists assess the thermal properties of specific apparel worn by the manikins as the figures swing their arms and legs. For example, data collected across the chest helps scientists zero in on the ideal material properties for a sports bra. Scientists can test apparel in a matter of days using the thermal manikins, reducing a timeline that would take weeks with human volunteers.

NSRL Climate Chambers

The science of regulating your temperature is serious business in the Nike Sport Research Lab.

The NSRL Environmental Chambers

There are few firsts left for marathon GOAT Eliud Kipchoge. The New York City Marathon is the near equivalent of his last frontier.&nbsp;This November 2, 2025, will&nbsp;be his debut in the race, the only world major he has yet to run.&nbsp;Typically&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/eliud-kipchoge-wear-testing-nike-running-zoom-fly-6" target="_blank">a first tester</a>&nbsp;for Nike’s latest footwear innovations, Eliud will take on NYC with a tool borrowed from a different toolbox: a&nbsp;custom&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/magazine/what-is-nike-radical-airflow" target="_blank">Nike Radical AirFlow</a> top, a material innovation introduced in this summer’s trail running season through All Conditions Gear (ACG). The origin&nbsp;for the one-of-one top is&nbsp;simple. In July of 2025, a team of Nike product experts were preparing to fly to Eliud’s training camp in Kenya to show him new product. What if he tried a Radical AirFlow top,&nbsp;they thought? The same kind worn by&nbsp;<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> athlete Caleb Olson&nbsp;for the&nbsp;2025 Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, where he ran the second-fastest course time in the race’s history.What&nbsp;happened next is&nbsp;familiar to anyone who’s followed Eliud’s relationship to product. He ran in the top. He liked it enough to scribe pages and pages of his signature handwritten notes, drawings and annotations on how it performed. And he believed in the top so much,&nbsp;he&nbsp;said&nbsp;he’d wear it for one of the&nbsp;few remaining firsts of his career.“The journey of how this project went from prototype to race-day ready for Eliud was very much in the spirit of just doing it,” says Scott LeClair, VP/GM, Nike ACG. “Serve the athlete and don’t let anything get in the way.”

Listen to Eliud

Eliud’s reputation as a devout wear tester&nbsp;is storied across Nike Running. Designers call him a product line manager on the ground. His humble sketchpads turn into maps that lead to goldmines. From unboxings to post-workout debriefs, Eliud is always ready to share his direct experience with&nbsp;the innovation at hand.

After a week of running in the top, Eliud was shocked at the perceptible cooling effect over his body, and he liked how the knit material moved freely across his skin without chafing. He offered one suggestion that might increase the cooling effect: an additional side vent at the garment’s ribs, betting on the chance for even more ventilation.

Eliud Kipchoge on His Radical AirFlow Top

Make Adjustments

Designers back at Nike’s <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-philip-h-knight-campus-announcement" target="_blank">PHK headquarters</a> got to work creating an updated prototype. At 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>, experts from Nike’s NXT Apparel teams used Eliud’s digitized body scans from the Nike Sport Research Lab to hit&nbsp;exact measurements for his 5’7” build. Along with creating the side vents, designers made&nbsp;more adjustments to get the top race-ready. They reverted the hemline to a normal height&nbsp;(the trail version of Radical AirFlow is cropped to allow room for a fuel belt). Based on Eliud’s feedback, they also adjusted the drape to make the top fit a little tighter to&nbsp;his&nbsp;body, to prevent it from&nbsp;swinging excessively from side to side.&nbsp;“Every alteration we made for Eliud was based on his feedback,” says Emily DeLess, Apparel Innovation, Product Management. “Thanks to our research history, we already have a language of development with him,&nbsp;so we can give him exactly what he needs.”

When Eliud Kipchoge ran the 2025 New York City Marathon, he did it in a one-of-one Radical AirFlow top, bridging a material innovation from trail running to road racing. He was just as methodical with his feedback as you’d expect.

The NSRL Baseline Testing

The Handshake That Started It All

What It Looks Like to Finish On Empty

Is It Bad That I Pronate When I Run?

The NSRL Fieldhouse Track

The NSRL Environmental Chambers

A Radical Solution for the World’s Greatest Marathoner

5 Questions With Fashion Designer Melitta Baumeister

Inside the Nike Mind Team That Turned Neuroscience Into Footwear

One Year In, the CEO of Sport Is Taking Nike Back to Its Roots

The LeBron James Innovation Center

How Can I Become a Better Runner?