When Nike® unveiled the kits for the 2024 U.S. Olympic track and field team, the design of the women’s kits sparked significant discussion online. At the center of the discussion was a one-piece women’s suit with a high-cut leg opening, which Nike asserted was the “most athlete-informed, data-driven and visually unified [uniform] the company has ever produced.” While the focus of the Olympics is principally about celebrating the athletes’ excellent talents, it is undeniable that uniforms and gear have begun to play an increasingly important role since the inception of the modern Olympic Games.
Technological innovation in the athletic wear industry has dramatically boosted athletes’ performance and enabled them to continuously shatter world records. Dedication, nutrition, and sheer athletic talent are certainly significant contributors to record-breaking performance, but there is no doubt that innovative athletic gear also helps — a lot. In track and field, we can see most of this innovation in the realm of footwear technology, as opposed to clothing garments.
The 1896 Athens Olympics were the first held in modern history. American track and field athletes, such as discus throw and shot-put athlete, Robert Garrett, competed in knee-length shorts, tank tops, and dress shoes. The uniform was emblazoned with the U.S. flag, which only had 45 stars at the time, and the dress shoes resembled a combination of ballerina flats and loafers. At the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, a Cuban postman named Felix Carvajal arrived late for the marathon and had to compete in his regular clothes and walking shoes. The officials elected to postpone the start of the race while he cut the sleeves off his shirt and the legs off his pants — he came in fourth.
The 1928 Amsterdam Olympics marked the first time women competed in track and field events. The first female gold medalist, Betty Robinson, competed in a simple cotton tee shirt and shorts. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens set three world records, and is largely regarded as the greatest track and field athlete of his generation. The shoes Owens competed in were designed by a German company that became the predecessor to Adidas and Puma, and the Owens collaboration was considered one of the first athletic endorsements.
By the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, tighter uniforms and lighter shoes were more commonly worn by track and field athletes. British sprinter Ann Packer, wore shoes designed by Adidas that weighed only 80 grams. Uniform sets were still commonplace until around this time. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, colorful elastic jerseys made of synthetic materials started to become a popular choice among athletes. While sprinters began leaning towards form-fitting speed suits, long-distance runners preferred material that would not be weighed down by sweat.
During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, technology used in space suits was introduced into the U.S. Olympic team’s athletic wear with the consultation of NASA scientist, Lawrence Kuznetz. The fabric was double-knit and aluminum-coated and engineered to keep athletes cooler by deflecting the sun rays and pulling perspiration from the body.
By the 2008 Beijing Olympics, computer modeling was being applied in uniform manufacturing to create more precise designs that reduced wind resistance. Around this time, beyond the focus on better technology, sustainability also became a main priority and focus for uniform manufacturers. The technology used by Nike for the 2012 London Olympics sprinters’ uniform was purported to help reduce the aerodynamic drag and shorten a 100-meter sprint time by 0.023 seconds — the uniform was also made of a material that included 13 recycled water bottles per piece.
In present times, Nike is the official supplier of competition uniforms for Team USA® and one of the frontrunners in the track and field shoe innovation race. For track and field, Nike created the Vaporfly™ and Alphafly® shoe models, which are protected by numerous utility and design patents, such as U.S. Patent No. 10,856,611 on a stacked cushioning arrangement for a shoe sole featuring 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 on sole structures with directional traction elements, downward-extending midsole protrusions, and specific arched profiles that help with forward momentum; and U.S. Patent No. 11,758,983 on specific cleat structures and patterns. The Pegasus Premium® model, Nike’s most recent breakthrough, features a proprietary sculpted Air Zoom® unit that contours to the natural profile of a runner’s foot and better carries the runner’s power through the heel-to-toe transition.
Methods of producing track and field gear have improved and have become more cutting edge in recent years. Great technological advances have been made in track and field shoe design, while other areas of the sport such as fabric composition and clothing structure have experienced a slightly slower transformation.
A special thanks to Norah Huang for her contributions to this article.
Sources
- The Runners Changing Course on Uniform Expectations, In competitive running, norms dictating attire are sticky but changing, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/sports/olympics/running-uniforms-evolution.html
- US Olympic uniform for track athletes sparks concerns about coverage: ‘Everything’s showing’, https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-olympic-uniform-track-athletes-sparks-concerns-coverage-everythings-showing
- ‘Is that the best you can do?’ Nike Olympic uniforms cause big 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
- Here’s How Olympic Track & Field Uniforms Have Evolved, https://www.romper.com/life/olympic-track-and-field-uniforms-photos
- How Olympics 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 Baggy 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
