The adidas products and technologies showcased within the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team are the result of over 80 years of relentless innovation begun by our founder Adi Dassler. His sole passion in life was to improve athletes’ performance. Seven hundred patents and other intellectual property rights stand testament to a life devoted to athletic innovation. Today, his spirit inspires adidas product teams to work harder, dig deeper and reach further to create products that break through the barriers of human performance.
Adi began building sports shoes in 1920 out of the back of his parents’ home in the Southern German town of Herzogenaurach. Just eight short years after cobbling together those first shoes, Adi’s creations were being put to the test at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. From that moment on, Adi and his shoes would be forever linked with the rich history of the Olympic Games.
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics wearing Adi’s shoes. In 1954, Emil Zatopek won gold in the marathon, 10,000m and 5,000m with his adidas – an achievement that has yet to be repeated. By 1960, 70% of all track & field athletes at the Rome Games were wearing adidas. Wilma Rudolph, Dick Fosbury, Nadia Comaneci, Edwin Moses, Donovan Bailey and many other Olympic legends owe their success, in part, to the brand with the 3-Stripes.
Over eighty years later, the adidas innovation team (ait) carries on in the pioneering footsteps of Adi Dassler. ait is a diverse team of experts trained on industrial design, mechanical and electronic engineering, product development and biomechanics. Using the latest research, material advances and athlete input, ait spend months and even years developing, testing and refining footwear, apparel, hardware and ball technologies until they are perfectly suited to their intended purpose. ait is as committed today as Adi Dassler was back then, to providing every athlete with the most cutting-edge equipment available for their respective sport.
Athletes have a wide variety of requirements based on their specialty, from sprinters who require freedom of movement and support to marathon runners who need the best moisture management and lightweight cushioning available.
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