Fractions of a second can turn an athlete into a world record holder and national hero. The sneakers they wear represent millions of dollars and years of research making footwear the new performance enhancing drug of the Olympics.
We review the latest cutting-edge athletic footwear being unveiled at the Beijing Summer Olympics
Puma Footwear Making Olympic History
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt earned the nickname of “Lightning Bolt” and carved his own position in history by becoming the first man ever to break both world records for the 100 and 200-meter events at one Olympics proving that lightning does strike twice. He added a third gold medal and world record in the 4×100 relay. The entire Jamaican Olympic sprint team was outfitted by Puma with Usain wearing an appropriately gold colored Puma Theseus II Spikes custom made for him. They have the distinction of being the only pair of shoes to travel 100 meters in 9.69 seconds.
Puma Theseus II - Track & Field
Puma could not have paid for better advertising than the historical moment during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won and set world records for both the 100 and 200-meter events wearing these Theseus II sprint spike shoes. His custom made shoes were fittingly metallic gold to match his medals. These now famous track shoes have the distinction of being the only pair of shoes to travel 100 meters in 9.69 seconds. Usain Bolt collaborated with Puma in the design of these high performance track shoes being referred to as “the fastest shoes on earth.”
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Gold
More Info on Puma Theseus II Track Shoes
Nike Olympic Footwear at the Forefront of Technology
Nike is entering shoes in 32 athletic categories, nearly tripling the number it had just four years ago. They have signed up 22 of China’s 28 sports federations to outfit most of its athletes. In addition to traditional sports like track & field, basketball, gymnastics, kayaking and boxing, Nike is also outfitting athletes for sports like wushu, tae kwon do, and fencing because they’re high-profile events for the Chinese. Performance-enhancing technologies such as Aerographics, Flywire and Lunarlite foam were developed in the creation of this footwear. We’ll give you a closer look at the innovative Nike athletic shoes that are contending for Gold.
Zoom Victory Spikes - Track & Field
Zoom Victory Spike represents Nike’s latest innovation with it’s super-light Flywire shoes. The revolutionary lightweight design is creating quite the buzz in the industry.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Bronze
More Info on Nike Zoom Victory Spikes
HyperDunk - Basketball
These crazy kicks were worn by members of the USA Basketball team including Kobe Bryant on their path to Gold medal victory in Beijing. These breakthrough sneakers are also the beneficiary of the innovative flywire technology. This design breakthrough has resulted in Nike’s lightest and strongest basketball shoe ever.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Gold
Nike Shaolinquan - Martial Arts
Nike developed a shoe specifically for the 3,00 year old martial art of China named wushu. Designers collaborated closely with world-class athletes from this sport and coaches. The name Shaolinquan stands for martial arts in Mandarin.
- Innovative Design Rating: Silver
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Bronze
Nike Pidima - Gymnastics
Working with a German sports research scientist, Nike designed a shoe called the Pidima (Greek for Leap) to suport the needs of world-class gymnasts. The shoe is specifically designed for the vault competition and represents the smallest Nike shoe ever produced. Essential to the design is a slightness of material that allows the foot to feel as bare as possible while improving traction beneath the sole.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Bronze
Nike Grigoros - Kayaking
US Kayakers asked Nike designers to create a lightweight shoe to help them maneuver their boats through gates in a slalom course. The catch is they wanted a performance improvement over competing barefoot which is how they are accustomed to competing. Nike produced the Grigoros (Greek for Quick), a fitted ultra lightweight silhouette shoe to provide protection and better-than-barefoot traction, stability and balance during a race.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Bronze
Nike TKV - Taekwondo
Nike has made their own impact with this specialty athletic shoe intended to deliver its own punch. Designers at Nike consulted with top athletes in the Taekwondo discipline to appreciate the challenges of the sport. With the objective of preventing injury during training and early qualifying rounds, this Nike TKV delivers lightweight protection without sacrificing agility. For good measure, the material of the padding was engineered to produce a loud, crisp sound upon impact to facilitate scoring.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Bronze
Nike Dunk Gyrizo- Bicycle Motor Cross
Making its Olympic debut in Beijing is the sport of BMX, or Bicycle Moto Cross. It represents the non-motorized version of motocross and includes freestyle and jumping. Nike is unveiling a shoe specifically designed for this sport called Nike Dunk Gyrizo (Greek for wheel). Although the exterior of the shoe looks like Nike’s wildly popular Dunk model, the design features of this innovative shoe were a dream come true for cycling enthusiasts. The shoe is actually built on the same cycling last as Lance Armtstrong’s famous cleat.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Gold
More Info on Nike Dunk BMX Gyrizo
Latest Nike Footwear with Olympics Technology
Nike Zoom Victory - Running
This olympic-inspired running shoe benefits from the same cutting edge features that the US elite athletes will be counting on. The Flywire technology is exclusive to Nike. Nike borrowed a page from NASA by utilizing vectran fibers to thread support through out the frame of the shoe. This is the same material used by NASA to sew the ballons on the Lunar Rover. The result is an ultra lightweight feel on the foot combined with a great fit and solid support.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Silver
More Info on Nike Zoom Victory Running
Nike United We Rise Pack
The US Basketball team nicknamed the Redeem Team looking to rebound from their lackluster performance and bronze metal finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Insupport of the team, and with the theme of playing with unity, Nike has released the United We Rise collection that includes several on and off-court kicks. Included are the Lebron Soldier II (top left), Air Jordan Olympian (top right), Converse Dwayne Wade Team Signature (bottom right), and the Air Force 25 low (bottom right). The shoes start at $100 per pair.
- Innovative Design Rating: Gold
- Performance Edge Rating: Gold
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Gold
More Info on Nike United We Rise Sneaker Pack
2008 Olympics Commemorative Footwear from Nike
Nike Olympic Mascot Shoe Pack
Even though Nike is not an official Olympics sponsor, they are getting very creative with ways to capitalize on the events anyway. The release of this playful Olympic Mascot Shoe Pack is a clear example. These five models pay tribute to the Olympic mascots.
- Innovative Design Rating: Bronze
- Performance Edge Rating: Bronze
- “Fly Kicks” Rating: Gold
More Info on Nike Fuwa Olympics Mascot Shoe Pack
We welcome your feedback on these selections.
- Have you purchased any of these Nikes?
- Do you agree with our “medal ratings”?
- Are there other Nike sneakers which you’d like to see included?
- Please leave a comment
September 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Yep, you need good shoes + years of hard training + excellent coaching + maybe some interesting chemicals [grin].