Two world records shattered in a matter of months. Two different shoe brands claiming the glory. And the company that invented the playbook? Watching from the sidelines.
In one of the most stunning reversals in sports marketing history, both the marathon world record and the mile world record now belong to athletes wearing shoes made by Nike’s rivals — and the story of how that happened is more fascinating than any finish-line photo.
Sabastian Sawe made history at the London Marathon in April, becoming the first human being to break the two-hour barrier in a record-eligible race — not in Nikes, but in adidas.
Then Josh Kerr arrived at London Stadium and dismantled a 27-year-old mile record wearing spikes custom-built by Brooks, a brand better known for recreational runners than world-record attempts.
Here’s why that matters far beyond the track.
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The Record That Changed Everything
Sawe’s 1:59:30 at the London Marathon wasn’t just fast — it was the first sub-two-hour marathon ever recorded in a race eligible for official ratification.
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He did it in the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a featherlight 97-gram shoe with a price tag of $500. Retail pairs have since been resold for more than $5,000.
Sawe wasn’t alone in making adidas look dominant that day. Yomif Kejelcha ran 1:59:41 in his marathon debut wearing the same shoe, and Tigst Assefa smashed the women-only world record with a 2:15:41 — also in the Evo 3.
Three world records. One shoe. Zero Nike logos.
Josh Kerr and Brooks’ Calculated Masterpiece
If adidas made history with raw performance, Brooks turned the mile record into a cinematic event.
The brand and Kerr announced “Project 222” back in March — publicly naming the target time, the venue, the pacers, and the custom spike being engineered specifically for the attempt. They even documented Kerr’s high-altitude training camp in Albuquerque as a YouTube series, building anticipation for weeks before the race.
What unfolded at London Stadium was exactly what they promised. Kerr blazed through the 1,500m mark in 3:27.62 — faster than his own British record for that distance — before crossing the finish in 3:42.66, ending Hicham El Guerrouj’s grip on the mile record that had stood since 1999.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
He did it in front of 60,000 fans. Within hours, Bloomberg was covering it as a business story for Brooks.
Out there, I am just the body, but there is an incredible amount of work behind the scenes.
Both records are still awaiting official ratification by World Athletics — but the cultural impact has already landed.
Nike’s Records — and What It’s Already Lost
Nike hasn’t been erased from the record books entirely. Faith Kipyegon still holds the women’s 1,500m world record at 3:48.68 and the women’s mile record at 4:07.64, both in Nike gear.
Until April, Nike also owned the men’s marathon record. The late Kelvin Kiptum ran 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon in a prototype Alphafly 3 — a shoe that sold out within minutes at $285 when it hit retail shelves.
But the two records with the biggest mainstream reach? Gone.
The painful irony is that Nike wrote the entire playbook. The company’s 2017 Breaking2 project — placing Eliud Kipchoge on the Monza Formula One circuit in a prototype Vaporfly Elite — missed the sub-two-hour mark by 26 seconds, but it didn’t matter. That ineligible 2:00:25 still launched carbon-plated shoe technology into the mainstream and sparked a running revolution that every rival brand, including adidas and Brooks, is still building against today.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
What Nike lost in 2025 is the spectacle it invented — taken by competitors using its own methods, on the sport’s biggest stages.
The $216 Billion Question
Nike’s stock tells a brutal story on its own, regardless of what’s happening on the track.
The company’s market cap sat at roughly $65 billion last week. At its peak in November 2021, Nike was worth nearly $281 billion. That’s more than $216 billion in value, gone.
Nike’s most recent earnings report, covering fiscal Q4 and released June 30, technically beat Wall Street revenue expectations at $10.97 billion — but analysts noted that beat leaned heavily on an anticipated $986 million tariff refund. Sales in Greater China dropped 12 percent to $1.30 billion as domestic brands Anta and Li Ning continue eating into Nike’s market share.
The company also told investors to brace for more pain, projecting fiscal 2027 revenue to fall again in the low-to-mid single digits. The stock has shed 42 percent over the past year alone.
CEO Elliott Hill, who took over in 2024, is working to rebuild wholesale relationships that his predecessor walked away from and restructuring the entire company around sport. His own summary of where things stand was characteristically blunt.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Overall, the results aren’t there yet.
Why the Record Drought Actually Matters
To be clear, Wall Street isn’t pricing Josh Kerr’s mile splits into Nike’s stock. The company’s financial challenges come from far bigger forces — tariffs, competition in China, and a wholesale strategy that needs rebuilding from the ground up.
But the record drought matters for a reason Nike understands better than anyone: a world record reaches people who will never read a single shoe review.
That’s exactly why adidas priced a 97-gram racing flat at $500 and why Brooks spent months engineering an entire record attempt around a single athlete. These aren’t just marketing stunts — they’re cultural moments that move casual consumers who only pay attention when history is being made.
Nike built that understanding. Right now, its rivals are using it better.
