| In 1936, Adi Dassel packed a suitcase full of sports | | | | Brothers Shoe Factory) came courtesy of Barthel, a |
| spikes and loaded them into his car. He drove on one | | | | middle-distance runner from Luxembourg who won |
| of the world’s first motorways from the small town | | | | gold in the 1500 meters. |
| of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria to the Olympic Village in | | | | • Wilma Rudolph, 1960. Rudolph wore adidas |
| Berlin. Adi was hoping to meet with the American | | | | to the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. |
| sprinter Jesse Owens and convince him to wear | | | | She was the first woman to win 3 gold medals in |
| spikes designed by Adi and his brother Rudolph, who | | | | track and field during the same Olympics. That year, |
| ran the company, Dassel Brothers Shoe Factory | | | | 75 percent of track and field athletes competed in |
| together. Adi met with Owens, Owens won four | | | | adidas shoes |
| races, and the rest is history. Owens became the | | | | • Pelé (Edison Arantes do Nascimento), |
| first African-American to receive sponsorship, and Adi | | | | 1970. During the 1970 World Cup, the soccer player |
| and Rudolph began manufacturing thousands of pairs | | | | Pelé famously asked the referee to wait a moment |
| of shoes to keep up with the demand from athletes | | | | while Pelé tied his shoe just before the opening |
| from all around the world. | | | | whistle. The “shoe tying” was captured on |
| Eventually Adi would part ways with Rudolph, and | | | | national television, and Pelé was paid 120,000 dollars |
| Dassel Brothers Shoe Factory would divide into two | | | | by Puma for his promotion of their brand. |
| separate companies: adidas (run by Adi) and Pumas | | | | • Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, 1971. |
| (run by Rudolph). Sponsorship by world-class and | | | | When Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier went toe-to-toe |
| celebrity athletes was always a big part of the | | | | in the “Fight of the Century”, they were both |
| business plan of both companies. Here are some of | | | | wearing custom-made boxing shoes designed by |
| the most notable wearers of Puma and adidas shoes: | | | | adidas. |
| • West German National Soccer Team, | | | | • Alberto Juantorena, 1976. Eighty-three |
| 1948. In the first match after World War II, several | | | | percent of athletes at the 1976 Olympic Games in |
| members of the West German national soccer team | | | | Montreal wore adidas including the Cuban Alberto |
| wore Pumas. | | | | Juantorena who is the only male athlete to win the |
| • Josy Barthel, 1952. The first gold medal | | | | 400 meter and 800 meter races in the same |
| associated with Puma (as opposed to the Dassel | | | | Olympics. |
