byLarry Eder
When I asked Cregg Weinmann, he did not flinch! Of course, as the footwear and apparel reviewer for the Running Network, Cregg deals with minutae and esoterica each and every day of his life. This report is fascinating, again, thanks to still photography, emails, phone calls, video and the limited minutes NBC gave to athletics, Cregg’s report adds to the knowledge of the athletic marketing wars in Beijing….
Medal Winning Uniform Brands (Federations)
The careful observer may have noticed that the different athletics federations which won medals in the individual events in Beijing were arrayed in a variety of brands of sportswear. The statistical breakdown is an interesting view of the spectrum of technical apparel available across the globe. The number of teams outfitted by the largest brands totaled similar tallies, though the medal winners created some distinct figures. The successes of some federations elevated the profile of certain brands, notably Puma, which outfitted a comparable number of teams to the totals of Nike and adidas, the three combining for an aggregate of 49 of the participating federations, and 28 of the 39 federations which won medals. One peculiarity of the apparel situation was the arrangement adidas had as the official sportswear sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games – though some federations had existing deals with another brand, for instance the US team had a uniform and warmup agreement to wear Nike, but some federations stipulated only the uniform, so wore adidas on the victory stand. Several federations had arrangements to wear brands manufactured in their country, which swelled the number to 13 different brands from 10 countries on 5 continents.
Gold
Nike 19
adidas 9
Puma 7
Mizuno 3
ASICS 1
La Coq Sportif 1
Olympicos 1
Reebok 1
Union 1
Silver
Nike 20
adidas 11
Puma 4
Mizuno 4
Reebok 1
Diadora 1
Li Ning 1
Marathon 1
Bronze
Nike 26
adi 7
Mizuno 4
Puma 3
ASICS 1
Audimas 1
Union 1
Total
Nike 65
adidas 27
Puma 14
Mizuno 11
ASICS 2
Reebok 2
Union 2
La Coq Sportif 1
Olympicos 1
Diadora 1
Li Ning 1
Marathon 1
Audimas 1
100 pan ppp
200 pnn pnp
400 nan apn
800 n(ln)n nnp
1500 nnu nnn
5k ann mnm
10k aan mnn
20kw n(ma)a npA
mar npa ann
50kw Aan
100h/110h ann nan
400h nnn pna
3000sc nan nnn
LJ naa (ol)nn
TJ aaa pna
HJ nan a(di)n
PV ann nnn
S rnm umm
D nr(au) nan
H (lcs)mm man
J pmn ann
Dec/Hep nma nnn
adidas: Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Trinidad, UK
Total of 13 medal winning federations
Nike: Bahrain, Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Kenya, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Panama
Total of 11 medal winning federations
Puma: Jamaica, Morocco, Cameroon, Norway
Total of 4 medal winning federations
Mizuno: Belarus, Latvia
Total of 2 medal winning federations
Reebok: Poland (Gold, Silver)
ASICS: Italy (Gold, Bronze)
Union: New Zealand (Gold, Bronze)
La Coq Sportif:Slovenia (Gold)
Olympicos:Brazil (Gold)
Diadora: Croatia (Silver)
Li Ning: Sudan (Silver)
Marathon: Ecudor (Silver)
Audimas: Lithuania (Bronze)
Total of 1 medal winning federations
