Adidas may have Stella McCartney on board, but when it comes to covetable trainers, Nike are hard to beat. If you watched the athletics this weekend (who didn’t?) then you would have seen neon yellow shoes all over your screens and wondered how all the athletes wound up with highlighter-like feet. The essential pieces of Olympic kit are Nike, and they’re stunning.
The ‘Volt Collection’, designed especially for the USA team, includes various styles of trainer for different track, field and road events, from marathon-running to sprinting – all in that eye-catching neon hue. The track shoes, which include spikes that improve traction and minimise the chances of slipping when running at such high speeds, are in an impressive-looking gold metallic. We saw them last night in the 100m Men’s Final – arguably the most exciting race of the Olympics – on both Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey.
It’s not just Team USA getting in on the action. Team GB hopeful Perri Shakes-Drayton – the second-fastest 400m hurdler in the world this year – won her first-round heat last night wearing Nike x Liberty Zoom JA Fly shoes, £150 exclusive to Liberty. Also in the high voltage yellow colour, they feature Liberty’s ‘Mirabelle’ print, a fabric that was first introduced at Liberty in the 1960s. The British heritage in the fabric combined with Nike’s technical design spec make these the perfect shoes for this British hurdling hopeful.
So instantly recognisable are they that blogger Susie Bubble tweeted during the race to say, ‘Just spotted the Nike x Liberty Zoom JA Fly shoes on Perri Shakes Drayton!’ proving that even at those speeds, Nike is more than recognisable. Olympic coach and personal trainer Tim Weeks added, ‘I love it how Nike have responded to being strangled out of 2012. The brightest footwear EVER designed. You can't miss them!’
Proof came during the 10,000 metre final. While all British eyes may have been on Mo Farah, it was hard to miss the sea of bright yellow shoes making their way around the track.
On the track the kits and sportswear are designed to minute detail. Even the fabric choice can make the difference between a gold medal or a bronze for some, but what it comes down to post-Games is which brand will be most covetable with consumers. Something tells us that both Nike and Adidas will take home gold...
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