Adidas AG is celebrating a major milestone after two runners shattered the two-hour barrier in the London Marathon, both wearing the German sportswear giant's latest ultra-light racing shoe. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha crossed the finish line in the newly launched Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a $500 shoe that weighs just 97 grams (3.42 ounces) in a standard size.
Record-Breaking Performances
Sawe pulled away from Kejelcha in the final moments to achieve a world-record time of 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds—more than a minute faster than the previous best. Kejelcha finished just 11 seconds behind in his first-ever marathon. In the women's race, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa won in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 41 seconds, breaking her own women's-only world record set last year. All three winners wore the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, which the company debuted on Thursday.
Technological Innovation
The shoe features Adidas's latest lightweight and springy foam, called Lightstrike Pro Evo, along with a new design that helps propel runners forward. Patrick Nava, general manager of running at Adidas, said, 'This is a testament to the years of hard work and dedication they have made, alongside our innovation team, who have built a supershoe which breaks new ground.'
Kenya's Hellen Obiri, who finished second in the women's race, wore On Holding AG's LightSpray Cloudboom Strike, a $330 laceless shoe produced by robots. She smashed her personal best in the process.
Market Impact
Adidas shares rose 1.4% in early Frankfurt trading on Monday, though they have dropped about 18% so far this year amid investor concerns about economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Running shoes are a booming business, with the U.S. market growing 13% in the year through February to $8.1 billion, according to Circana LLC. The broader performance-shoe category may reach $104 billion in global sales by 2030, per Euromonitor.
Sawe's time surpassed Eliud Kipchoge's 2019 mark of 1:59:40, which was set in a Nike-organized event in Vienna that wasn't eligible for world-record status. In London, Sawe and Kejelcha pushed each other in the final miles, long after leaving official pacers behind.
