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*** Nike Creates Product For Olympics 2008 ***

Beaverton, Oregon (AP) -- 04/07/2008
Nike creates product for all Olympic sports in 2008


Photo - Team U.S.A. BMX Racing Gear.

If the Olympics are a time for athletes to showcase their skills,
then Nike sees it as a time to bring out its own best efforts.

On Monday, the company unveiled its Olympics 2008 line,
its largest effort for the games ever. Nike created products
in every sport at the games, which ranges from BMX racing
to equestrian jumping.

"We truly believe 2008 will be a defining moment for the industry,
the brand, the athletes and the consumer," said Kris Aman, Nike's
global general manager for the Beijing Olympics.

Nike is not an official sponsor of the game/ Its rival Adidas is.

Nike's position has traditionally been not to act as a sponsor of
the event, but to be an outfitter for its athletes. And it has often
used the opportunity to bring out the newest and boldest designs,
such as the gold shoes Michael Johnson wore in 1996 when he won
two gold metals in Atlanta or the head-to-toe body suit that Cathy
Freeman wore in Sydney when she became the first Aborigine to
win the gold in 2000.

"Some of our greatest moments as a brand and as a company
have come under those five rings," said Mark Parker, president
of Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike.

This year, the company will dress thousands of athletes from more
than 100 countries. Some will look like superheros in track outfits
with bright colored gloves and socks designed to reduce drag and
others will look like chilled armadillos in a vest filled with ice to help
them keep their cool pre-event in Beijing's sweltering heat.

As usual, the product is unusual.

It's the first year BMX will be a medal event at the games.
And Nike's Global Director for Action Sports, also a self-professed
bicycle motocross nut, John Martin told media the retro-styled gear
is the "illest (best) BMX product ever."


http://blog.enveeapparel.com/?p=285

The company has also created its lightest track shoe and basketball
shoe ever, which is based on a webbing of ultra-resistent fibers that
act as a basket to attach the sole and hold in the foot.

"The mix of competition and consumer product is
some of the best we've ever done," Parker said.

The Beijing Olympics is one of the most important
and controversial games for the company.

It has millions of worldwide viewers and will br9ing the trademark
"swoosh" closer to consumers in China, which is Nike's second
largest market after the United States.

Roughly one of every three pairs of Nike shoes is made in China.

"I think the latest Olympics is always the biggest and most important,"
Parker told The Associated Press. "China is particularly important
because of what it represents — this country, it's impact on the world."

The product lineup was released on the same day the Olympic torch's
path was waylaid by protesters in Paris. Protesters were already
gathering in the U.S. to speak out against China's human rights record.

Some of the company's athletes have spoken out against the country.
And Kobe Bryant, who was onsite to unveil the basketball shoe told
reporters that it was an opportunity to raise awareness about what
was going on.

"Every athlete has every right, which we support fully, to express
their feelings, their position," Parker said. "Our focus is on sports
and helping athletes realize their potential."

He said the 2008 Olympics is "one of the most important events from
a sporting standpoint that anybody has ever seen, we'll deliver on it."

CC - The Associated Press (AP) Wire.


ACC - http://www.nike.com | http://www.nikebiz.com
ACCC - http://www.genesbmx.com/2008-bmx-olympics.html
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