Magic number

German company Adidas was created by the superbly-named Adolf ‘ Adi ’ Dassler and his brother , Rudolph . It became renowned for high performance sports apparel and sneakers – later detailed by the now ubiquitous three stripes and a trefoil logo . Following a huge row between the siblings , however , Rudolph sprinted off and formed rival brand Puma .

Black history

Undetered by growing racial discrimination in Germany , Adi conviced Black sprinter Jesse Owens to use Adidas spikes at the Olympic Games . It quickly became a success – quite literally , as

Owens won four gold medals . Many endorsements have followed including partnerships with Daily Thompson , Carl Lewis , Kobe Bryant , Naomi Osaka , Damian Lillard and Florence Griffith Joyner ( with whom it created a weird one-legged spandex running suit ).

16 January 2022