When Nike® unveiled the uniforms for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team, the design of the women’s uniforms sparked significant debate online. At the center of the discussion was a one-piece women’s suit with a high-cut leg that Nike claimed was the “most athlete-inspired, data-driven and visually consistent (uniform) the company has ever produced.” While the Olympics are primarily about celebrating the outstanding talents of athletes, there is no denying that uniforms and equipment have played an increasingly important role since the inception of the modern Olympic Games.

Technological innovations in the sportswear industry have dramatically increased the performance of athletes, allowing them to break world records time and time again. Dedication, nutrition and sheer athletic talent certainly contribute greatly to record-breaking performances, but there is no doubt that innovative sports equipment helps too – a lot. In athletics, we can see most of these innovations in the area of ​​footwear technology, as opposed to apparel.

The 1896 Olympic Games in Athens were the first in modern history. American track and field athletes such as discus thrower and shot putter Robert Garrett competed in knee-length shorts, tank tops and dress shoes. The uniform was decorated with the U.S. flag, which at the time had only 45 stars, and the dress shoes resembled a cross between ballet flats and loafers. At the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, a Cuban mailman named Felix Carvajal was late for the marathon and had to compete in his regular clothes and walking shoes. Officials decided to delay the start of the race while he cut off the sleeves of his shirt and the legs of his pants—he finished fourth.

Public Domain. State Agency of the Bulgarian Archives. Collection: 3K “Monarchy Institute” Collection: 7 Archival Unit: 422 Sheet Number: 22

The 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam marked the first time that women competed in track and field events. The first female gold medalist, Betty Robinson, competed in a simple cotton T-shirt and shorts. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Jesse Owens set three world records and is widely considered the greatest athlete of his generation. The shoes Owens competed in were designed by a German company that became the predecessor of Adidas and Puma, and the collaboration with Owens was considered one of the first sports advertisements.

At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, track and field athletes wore tighter uniforms and lighter shoes more frequently. British sprinter Ann Packer wore Adidas shoes that weighed just 80 grams. Uniforms were still common until this time. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, brightly colored, stretchy jerseys made of synthetic materials began to become popular among athletes. While sprinters tended toward form-fitting speed suits, long-distance runners preferred materials that were not weighed down by sweat.

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, under the advice of NASA scientist Lawrence Kuznetz, technology from spacesuits was incorporated into the U.S. Olympic team’s sportswear. The fabric was double-knit and coated with aluminum, and designed to keep athletes cooler by blocking the sun’s rays and wicking sweat away from the body.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, computer modeling was used in the production of uniforms to create more precise designs that reduced wind resistance. It was around this time that uniform manufacturers began to focus not only on better technology, but also on sustainability. The technology used by Nike for the sprinters’ uniform at the 2012 London Olympics was designed to help reduce drag and reduce the 100-meter sprint time by 0.023 seconds – the uniform was also made from a material that contained 13 recycled water bottles per piece.

Currently, Nike is the official supplier of competition uniforms for Team USA® and is at the forefront of innovation in track and field footwear. For athletics, Nike has developed the Vaporfly” and Alphafly® shoe models, which are protected by numerous utility and design patents, such as U.S. Patent No. 10,856,611 for a stacked cushioning arrangement for a shoe sole with carbon fiber plates and two pairs of fluid-filled chambers under the ball of the foot; U.S. Patent Nos. 11,957,216 and 11,666,119 for sole structures with directional traction elements, downward protrusions in the midsole and special curved profiles that aid forward propulsion; and U.S. Patent No. 11,758,983 for special lug structures and patterns. The Pegasus Premium® model, Nike’s latest breakthrough, features a proprietary molded Air Zoom® unit that conforms to the natural profile of a runner’s foot and maximizes the runner’s power during the heel-to-toe transition. transmits better.

The methods of manufacturing athletics equipment have improved and become more modern in recent years. Great technological advances have been made in the design of athletics shoes, while other areas of the sport such as fabric composition and clothing structure have seen somewhat slower change.

Special thanks go to Norah Huang for her contributions to this article.

Sources

• Runners are changing course on uniform expectations. In competitive running, the norms that dictate clothing are stubborn, but they are changing. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/sports/olympics/running-uniforms-evolution.html




• US Olympic uniform for track-athletes sparks coverage concerns: ‘Everything is showing’, https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-olympic-uniform-track-athletes-sparks-concerns-coverage-everythings-showing




• “Is this the best you can do?” Nike Olympic uniforms cause a stir online, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/04/17/nike-olympic-uniforms-team-usa-criticism/73359020007/




• A look back at 116 years of Olympic track uniforms, https://www.tumblr.com/sisaaclane/149089735908/a-look-back-at-116-years-of-olympic-track-uniforms




• This is how the uniforms for Olympic track and field have evolved, https://www.romper.com/life/olympic-track-and-field-uniforms-photos




• How Olympic uniforms have changed over the past 12 decades, https://www.buzzfeed.com/williambarrios/how-olympics-uniforms-have-changed-over-the-past-12-decades




• When Sprinters Wore Loose Shorts – A look back at Olympic sprinters’ uniforms before they became tight and shiny, https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/olympic-uniforms-from-loose-and-heavy-to-tight-and-dimpled-a-visual-history-of-olympic-sprinting-attire.html




• How did we get here? A “brief” history of running shorts, https://www.vogue.com/article/history-of-running-shorts-nike-olympics




• https://www.newsweek.com/nike-trouble-2024-paris-olympics-1927496




• https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-ignites-new-frontier-of-innovation-with-40-elite-athletes-in-unforgettable-experience-in-paris

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject. You should seek professional advice for your specific circumstances.