{"id":33092,"date":"2026-04-27T12:43:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=33092"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:43:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:43:51","slug":"adidas-shares-rise-after-supershoe-helps-seal-sub-two-hour-marathon-win","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/adidas-shares-rise-after-supershoe-helps-seal-sub-two-hour-marathon-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Adidas shares rise after &#8216;supershoe&#8217; helps seal sub-two hour marathon win"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>German sportswear maker Adidas&#8217; rose on Monday after Kenya&#8217;s Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours in \u200ban official race, accomplishing his feat wearing the brand&#8217;s Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainers.<\/div>\n<div>\nSawe \u200cshattered one of athletics&#8217; most elusive barriers on Sunday as he stormed to victory at the London Marathon in one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. The sub\u2011two\u2011hour marathon has been one of sport&#8217;s biggest goals for years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>After the race, Sawe \u200bheld up his $500 Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainer with &#8220;WR&#8221; and &#8220;sub-2&#8221; written on it in \u200bblack marker pen. He beat the previous world record of 2:00:35 set at the \u2060Chicago Marathon in October 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The win is a boost for Adidas against \u200barch-rival Nike, after years of lab\u2011backed experiments and near\u2011misses looking to build a so-called &#8220;supershoe&#8221; to break the record.<\/div>\n<div>Nike&#8217;s \u200bBreaking2 attempt at Monza in 2017 just fell short though Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge ran under two hours in INEOS&#8217;s 1:59 Challenge two years later. Yet those efforts fell outside the sport&#8217;s official record books.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ethiopia&#8217;s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in \u200bhis marathon debut and Tigst Assefa broke her own women-only world record. All three were wearing Adidas&#8217; \u200bAdizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainers, which are set to go on sale on Thursday.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Using innovative foam and carbon-plated soles, \u200cand \u2060ultra-light components, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 weighs an average 97 grams, 30% less than its predecessor, and improves running economy by 1.6%, Adidas said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;The Adidas family is incredibly proud of Sabastian and Tigist&#8217;s historic achievements,&#8221; Patrick Nava, General Manager at Adidas Running, said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div>&#8220;This is a testament to the \u200byears of hard work \u200band dedication the have \u2060made, alongside our innovation team&#8221;.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Adidas shares were up 2% in mid-morning although they are down 18% since the start of this year on concerns about the \u200bgroup&#8217;s exposure to U.S. tariffs and the impact of the conflict in the \u200bMiddle East.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Adidas released its \u2060Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 trainers in late 2023, after Assefa set a new women&#8217;s marathon world record while wearing them at the women&#8217;s Berlin Marathon.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The third iteration of the shoe will be released for $500 a \u2060pair exclusively \u200bvia the Adidas app, with a wider release in the \u200bautumn marathon season, according to the company&#8217;s website, but the steep price tag puts them out of reach of most runners.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[],"class_list":["post-33092","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha finished second in \u200bhis marathon debut and Tigst Assefa broke her own women-only world record.","published_date":"","news_description":"Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha finished second in \u200bhis marathon debut and Tigst Assefa broke her own women-only world record.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33093,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33092\/revisions\/33093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}