Trashed by Sha’Carri Richardson Fans and Team USA, Nike Once Got in Serious Trouble Over ‘Iconic’ Marathon Shoe

Nike is seemingly getting into more controversies ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024. The Jamaican fans recently went up in arms against Nike for missing out on Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce’s statue. Now, it’s time for the fans of Sha’Carri Richardson to trash the $138.8 billion company.

However, before diving into the recent debacles, a look down memory lane will reveal much bigger issues that Nike has dealt with. Turning the clock back to 2020 will make people remember one of Nike’s iconic releases- Nike VaporFly. Before the original launch, prototypes of the same were distributed to several athletes for testing. However, once the results came out, all hell broke loose. Things worsened to the point where Nike was asked to ban their prized product altogether. 

Nike VaporFly accused of performance-enhancing properties 

Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Nike released a brand new shoe for track and field athletes. They claimed it to be a state-of-the-art, high-tech product that would help the athletes enhance their performance. Well, when put to the test, it was found that Nike spoke a little too much of the truth. Wearing the Nike VaporFly prototype, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge stunned the world as he ran a marathon in less than two hours. Kipchoge became the first athlete to achieve the seemingly impossible feat. 

Meanwhile, as days went by, news about athletes from all over the world breaking records poured in. And guess what most of them were wearing? Well, the Nike VaporFly. Soon, the criticisms started to flow and Nike got into deep waters. Accusations were made about the shoe enhancing the athletes’ natural abilities significantly. Things went so far as the World Athletics were pressurized to ban the product from the market. Fortunately for Nike, that did not happen, and it was a lucky escape. 

However, back in 2024, Nike’s relationship with controversies seems to have strengthened even more. After the recent release of Team USA’s Olympic jersey, fans of Sha’Carri Richardson started trolling them badly. 

Sha’Carri Richardson’s fans did not buy the latest Team USA Olympic jersey

Nike dropped their ‘Stars and Stripes’ Olympic kit for both US men and women athletes. During the launch, representatives of Nike elaborated on how the kits were designed using special features like body scanning and motion capture. Unfortunately, these were not enough for the fans and athletes to like the jersey. The men’s kit consisted of red and blue colors, while the women had a mix of white, blue, and pink. 

Terming the outfit as “ugliest”, fans stated that Nike lacks creativity compared to their competitors like Puma, Adidas and New Balance. What’s more, several athletes also dismissed the design by stating that the kits looked more like ‘partywear’.