Sabastian Sawe’s use of Adidas footwear at the London Marathon to break the two-hour barrier could lure non-contracted runners away from Nike, experts have warned. Kenya’s Sawe became the first person to legally dip under the two-hour mark on Sunday to etch his name in athletics folklore alongside Roger Bannister
Matt Hardy
Monday 27 April 2026 1:29 pm | Updated: Monday 27 April 2026 1:31 pm
Sabastian Sawe’s use of Adidas footwear at the London Marathon to break the two-hour barrier could lure non-contracted runners away from Nike, experts have warned.
Kenya’s Sawe became the first person to legally dip under the two-hour mark on Sunday to etch his name in athletics folklore alongside Roger Bannister and Jim Hines, and did so wearing the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3.
Second-placed Yomif Kejelcha also finished below the golden two-hour mark and wore the same shoes, alongside women’s world record-breaking champion Tigst Assefa.
Nike had long hoped to be the shoemaker to see the barrier broken legally, after aiding Eliud Kipchoge in his successful – but illegal – attempt to run sub-two hours.
Now experts have warned that Adidas’ success could see a shift in perception of the German brand.
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“I don’t think it’s a case of Nike athletes jumping ship to Adidas,” Steve Martin of MSQ Sport + Entertainment told City AM, “but what I think this has signaled is a major change in the perception of the Adidas brand in running.
“There’s been a long-term goal for that to happen and I think they’ve played this very well in how they’ve presented this as an innovative product to help performance.
“They’ve focused on the impact of the product rather than the impact of the experience.”
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Shares in Adidas were up by around two per cent versus the end of last week following the success of their shoe at the London Marathon.
There was an impressive appearance for Swiss brand On, with the second-place elite woman Hellen Obiri wearing its offering.
Nike featured just once on the podium of either elite race with third-place man Jacob Kiplimo wearing the iconic swoosh. Third in the women’s race – Joyciline Jepkosgei – wore Asics.
Adidas’s contract with Sawe included funding extra anti-doping testing of the Kenyan to prove, it says, that his short but impressive career has been clean.
Added Martin: “Nike athletes are usually contracted and I think it’s the ones that have no monetary deals in place will now consider looking at Adidas, but this has been the case for a while.
“This has been a great tipping point for the Adidas brand because it’s been so dominated by what it does in football and I think now the running credentials have been dramatically enhanced over the weekend versus Nike.
“In terms of a moment in time, it’s how they capitalise on that going forward but it’s very positive for them.”
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