I have always been a lover of history and the origin of things. I like to know, have data and, most importantly, share these stories with some friends over a few beers.

 Today I want to talk to you about one of the most important brands in the world of athletics, Nike, as well as what the great Steve Prefontaine meant for the birth of the brand.

 It all started thanks to Coach Bowerman's wife, who was a great baker at the time. Without her, we would not have been able to know athletics as it is, colorful and competitive, where runners fight against the wind and their rivals, and not against uncomfortable shoes.

Without Mrs. Bowerman, at least, the sport would not have evolved as quickly as it did from the 1970s onwards. Her favourite desserts were waffles and she had a good iron to make them. Her husband, who would have ended the marriage by being so passionate about athletics, noticed the machine one day and saw the revolution in the feet of his runners.

 Her husband was none other than the legendary Bill Bowerman, perhaps the greatest coach American track and field ever had. In addition to training 33 Olympians, he was obsessed with making his athletes' careers on the track easier. Bowerman had a legendary quote while hosting athletes at the University of Oregon: “God determines how fast you are going to run. I can only help with the mechanics.”

At that time, running shoes were an obstacle and became a limitation to achieving greater speed. That is why coach Bowerman used his free time testing new materials and designs to lighten the weight of the stride against the ground.

While Bowerman was innovating, a former athlete of his, Phil Knight, realized that things would go better for him in business than on the court, so he decided to market the Japanese Onitsuka Tiger sneakers in the United States.

He gave a few to Bowerman to sell to his brokers, but Bowerman responded differently: he asked to be his partner and told him how he would improve them.

In 1964, they created Blue Ribbon Sports, a subsidiary of Tiger. They put up $500 and placed an initial order of 300 pairs, earning $8,000 in their first year. From there, they began to develop their own company. In 1968, after dozens of prototypes, Bowerman's first design was launched: the Onitsuka Cortez, which was a huge success, generating sales of $800,000.

Bowerman and Knight had revolutionary materials and designs, early success, and plenty of ideas in mind. Everything they needed to make it big. And they did. In 1971, a student designed the Swoosh, the logo of their future company, for $35. Relations with Onitsuka Tiger were broken off, and in 1972, after much thought about the name that would replace Blue Ribbon Sports, they came up with a new brand that would honor athletes: NIKE, the Greek goddess of victory.

PREFONTAINE COMES TO HISTORY…

We cannot talk about the Oregonian without talking about one of the best athletes the United States has ever had. One of the few runners capable of simultaneously holding the existing records in the six distances ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 meters.

To talk about Steve Prefontaine is to talk about one of the idols of athletics, not only during the 70s, but throughout the history of the sport.

Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine were bound to work together. They were the perfect athletics team, and the athlete had no doubts about choosing the University of Oregon to train under one of the world's most successful coaches, even though all the US coaches were fighting to get his services.

Unable to concede an inch to his rivals in every race, Steve Prefontaine was the very image of Nike.

In 1973, Prefontaine was about to wear a new pair of shoes for the first time. These were the 'Nike Pre Montreal', designed and conceived for him, hence the suffix 'Pre'. They were a one-piece, seamless shoe that combined green and yellow, the colours of the University of Oregon.

That's how Prefontaine became an icon and the first athlete sponsored by Nike. The shoes that Prefontaine popularized were called the Oregon Waffle and by the 1976 Olympics they were already the majority of American athletes. The only one who could not wear them was Prefontaine himself, who died in the aforementioned car accident that cut short his life at just 24 years old while he was preparing for what were to be his Games. "The soul of Nike has died," Bowerman said.

 “For me, the best pace is a suicidal pace. Any race day is a great day to die.”, Steve Prefontaine.

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ORTEM AN10