- Title: In Olympics launch, Adidas seek to broaden sport appeal
- Date: 18th April 2024
- Summary: ATHLETES CHEERING, WALKING TOWARDS AUDIENCE ATHLETES FROM FRANCE WALKING TOWARDS AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADIDAS CEO, BJORN GULDEN, SAYING: “I think the Olympics, you know, is the sports event when the whole world comes together in big sports, small sports, smaller countries, bigger countries. For us it's very important that we build products for each of the sports and each of the countries that are the best we can do, and the whole vision has been to do that. And then they have used the flame, the Olympic symbol, as the biggest inspiration for the graphics and the colours, and personally, I think it looks great." VARIOUS OF PIECES OF OLYMPIC COLLECTION FOR GERMANY ON DISPLAY SHORTS ON DISPLAY TEAM GERMANY LOGO AND OLYMPIC RINGS ON SHIRT GREAT BRITAIN PIECES ON DISPLAY BRIEFS AND OTHER PIECES ON HANGERS TEAM GREAT BRITAIN LOGO ON SHIRT OLYMPIC 200 METRE SILVER MEDALLIST, ERRIYON KNIGHTON, SEATED DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC 200 METRE SILVER MEDALLIST, ERRIYON KNIGHTON, SAYING: "It felt pretty good, I mean, this is one of my first times being part of something like this, like an unveiling or something, so it was pretty cool, just where it is, like the venue, it was pretty cool, like the shoes displayed on the sides so that people came down and looked at them, the new shoes that are supposed to come out." VARIOUS OF SHOES ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC CLIMBING GOLD MEDALLIST, JANJA GARNBRET, SAYING: "I started training last November. I'm just preparing for the Olympics, and it's been going great. Last year, I injured myself, so this year I'm injury-free, just working on the weaknesses and the things I want to improve. I just did my first two World Cups, and I'm really happy with my shape, with my mentality, mindset, so I feel like I'm in a pretty good headspace right now." VARIOUS OF 2020 OLYMPICS SILVER MEDALLIST IN 110 METRE HURDLES AND THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, GRANT HOLLOWAY, DURING UNVEILING CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) 2020 OLYMPICS SILVER MEDALLIST IN 110 METRE HURDLES AND THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, GRANT HOLLOWAY, SAYING: "Yeah, I have a lot of confidence. I think with everything going on, I was just trying to really just focus in on my race plan and my race pattern. This is not a secret, obviously outdoors, I have a little bit more losses in my indoor season, but training has been going well. Coach and I have been working diligently on and off the track, so like I said before, the sky's the limit." VARIOUS OF BOSTON MARATHON WINNER AND OLYMPIC RUNNER FROM ETHIOPIA, SISAY LEMMA, DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOSTON MARATHON WINNER AND OLYMPIC RUNNER FROM ETHIOPIA, SISAY LEMMA, SAYING: "I was running in the Tokyo Olympic marathon. If you remember, all Ethiopian team missed the marathon, they dropped out, that is no good for Ethiopia. Now, I'm on Paris Olympics, (if) I take just gold for Ethiopia, this is good for Ethiopia and for me." PHOTOGRAPHERS / GERMAN OLYMPIC ATHLETES VARIOUS OF GERMAN ATHLETES POSING ADIDAS LOGO
- Embargoed: 2nd May 2024 19:06
- Keywords: Adidas Olympic Games Paris 2024 athletes outfits
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,Olympics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA004616118042024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Adidas launched new shoes for 41 Olympic disciplines at an event in Paris on Thursday (April 18), alongside sponsored athletes including climbing gold medallist Janja Garnbret, as it uses the Games to hone its focus on sports rather than celebrities.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden wants the brand to make shoes and apparel for a wider variety of sports, a departure from its previous strategy of focusing more deeply on fewer sports.
Sportswear brands such as Adidas, Puma, and their bigger U.S. rival Nike, are betting that their marketing spend and sponsoring of Olympic athletes and national teams will pay off as more consumers engage with sports and buy products like running shoes this summer.
Adidas also launched kits for the Olympic teams it sponsors, including Germany, Team GB, Poland, Bahrain, Cuba, Hungary, and Turkey. Its kits included apparel specially designed for athletes competing in a wheelchair.
Nike last week invited influencers to a slick show in Paris, where sponsored athletes, including U.S. sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, and Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge, showed off the brand's new Olympics kits, moonlighting as models.
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