Nike, Adidas Introduce Specialty Shoes For Beijing Olympics

Nike Designs Specialty Shoe For All Olympic Sports, Including Equestrian

Nike for the Beijing Olympics has "rolled out specialty shoes for all 28 official Olympic sports," up from the 11 shoes it designed for the Athens Games and one more than adidas, which is "supplying 27 specialty shoes after steering clear of an equestrian model," according to Esterl & Casey of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Both companies seek to "showcase their footwear technology during the Olympics and generate brand buzz -- even if they don't end up selling many archery or weight-lifting shoes." adidas expects to outfit "more than 3,000 of the estimated 10,500 athletes" at the Beijing Games, and consumers "will be able to try on some of the Olympic specialty shoes" at adidas stores. Nike "isn't planning the same broad Olympics shoe campaign." But Nike said that "many of its shoes will be available on Nike.com, as well as some retailers, later this month" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/5).

CONSPIRACY THEORY: CNBC.com's Darren Rovell examined a photo of the U.S. men's basketball team provided by Nike in a news release about the company's new Olympic jerseys, and noted Magic C Dwight Howard, who wears adidas, is the only member of the team not sponsored by Nike. In the photo, coach Mike Krzyzewski is sitting, and his left foot "just happens to be blocking the adidas logo on Dwight Howard's left foot." Additionally, Howard, who is holding a basketball, is the "only player to not have his hand behind his back," which "conveniently helps Howard cover the Nike logo on his shorts." A Nike source said that the shot is an "artistic photo taken in Las Vegas and that there's no conspiracy behind the posing of everything surrounding" Howard (CNBC.com, 7/3).