Nike betting on top Olympics athletes to win back market share

BEAVERTON, Oregon: In the presence of athletes, including Kenyan marathon star Eliud Kipchoge and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, Nike unveiled the kits of the Olympic teams it sponsors this week.

The company is betting that top athletes can enable it to win more back consumers after a long stretch of lackluster sales.

The company will also aim to use this summer's Olympic Games in Paris to direct the world's attention to its products, such as the US$285 Alphafly 3 marathon shoe.

In addition to providing kits for U.S. athletes at the Olympics, Nike will also work with the athletics teams of Canada, China, Kenya, Germany, and Uganda and the basketball teams of China, France, Japan, and Spain.

While its high-end shoes will serve a relatively limited customer base, Nike's broader goal is to sell more entry-level and mid-range running shoes, such as the Pegasus shoe range that it showcased, which costs between $130 and $160.

In an interview with Reuters, Matt Nurse, vice president of Nike's sport innovation lab, said, "What we learn from our best athletes, 10 percent of the athletes we work with, there is a trickledown in innovation because we are focused on making sure our innovations work across body shapes and running speeds and styles."

Nike's market share has been hit by rivals such as On Running, Hoka, and Lululemon.

A trend towards low-profile "terrace" shoes like the Adidas Samba and away from chunky basketball sneakers is also hurting the company's revenue.

"There is definitely more competition... it is good to take the pulse on what consumers are thinking and responding to - I just think competition always makes us better," Nurse said.

Nike previously said it would cut back on orders of established shoes, such as the Air Force 1, as it focuses on new, innovative products, warning that its revenue in the first half of its 2025 financial year would decline.