Adidas may be one of the only companies that Cancel Culture has been unable to overtake. Before Geriatric Millennials and Gen Xers were wearing their very best Adidas shoes, courtesy of Run DMC ‘s 1986 song anthem, the brand wasn’t exactly known for embracing African-American culture. In fact, its 1949 founder Adolf “Adi” Dassler was a documented member of the Nazi Party. Although Adidas certainly doesn’t bring attention to his affiliation in the brand’s timeline , the brand doesn’t hide the founder’s name either. Dassler became the supervisor of the Hitler Youth Sports league , but there are some conflicting reports about whether he was politically enthused with his affiliation or whether his “sole purpose was to support athletes, regardless of political affiliation, religious faith or ethnicity.” Felix Reimann Then, add on images of Jesse Owens, the African-American winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, who was wearing Dassler’s new handcrafted, leather...

Former Division 1 track-and-field athlete Jes Christian is leveraging her background to create cutting-edge footwear for today’s athletes. Christian is behind the sports footwear company Hypsole, created thanks to her time as a track star at the University of Notre Dame. She remembers being “hyper-aware” of both the advantages and shortcomings of her shoes’ performance while running. “I understood the purpose of each shoe, how they were different, how they impacted my movements, and how they helped me perform [or didn’t],” she told AFROTECH™. “I had a shoe for almost everything — so where performance was missing was more apparent to me than it might’ve been for a non-track athlete — and it was missing the minute I stepped off the field.” She continued, “The on-field/off-field dance is also amplified in track because track meets can last all day and multiple days. Track athletes are constantly moving on and off the field, changing footwear, and adjusting to a dynamic meet schedule....

Thanks to her mother’s advice, track-and-field athlete and Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell felt comfortable taking on NIL opportunities. In 2021, college athletes were permitted to profit from their name, image, and likeness for the first time due to an NCAA rule change, the New York Times reports. Russell, a University of Kentucky student-athlete at the time, was in disbelief. She recently expressed that it had been the status quo for athletes not to receive compensation. “When I was able to see that NIL was an opportunity that I could take advantage of, I didn’t know that it was real at first,” she mentioned during an interview on “The It Girls” podcast. “I didn’t know this was something that was in the making for so long because everyone, it was always like an ongoing, ‘Oh, no. Athletes shouldn’t get paid. Athletes should get paid.’ It was always a back-and-forth battle. So when the law actually got passed, I really didn’t believe it.” After further research, Russell was...

Simone Biles is anticipated to be part of her third U.S. Olympic team. According to NBC News, the 37-time world and Olympic medalist’s “scoring potential is the highest of any gymnast in the world.” Therefore, she will most likely make the U.S. team in all-around, vault, and floor events. However, despite her appearance, Biles will not be paid for her time at the upcoming Olympics, NBC Insider reports. The International Olympic Committee over the Games explained that operating under a for-profit model would harm the sports being featured as a whole, leading to the sports that generate more money having a stronger presence. “Imagine if the IOC were to organize the Olympic Games on a for-profit business model,” the International Olympic Committee explained to NBC Insider. “The event would be limited to those sports that generate the most significant revenues, and it would not involve athletes representing teams from 206 NOCs [National Olympic Committees]. It would not be Olympic Games...

Allyson Felix keeps blowing us away! As if being the most decorated track and field Olympian in history isn’t enough, Felix is now giving back to fellow athletes who are tackling motherhood. That’s right, Felix knows what it means to be worried about childcare while training and competing and has announced a $200,000 grant aimed at covering childcare costs for professional athletes while they compete during the rest of 2021. According to Fast Company, the new partnership is sponsored by Athleta and the Women’s Sports Foundation and has already awarded nine athletes $10,000. Olympic hammer throw Gwen Berry and Olympic saber fencer Mariel Zagunis are among the first group of recipients. “One of my first races back after giving birth to my daughter, Camryn, was the World Championships,” said Felix. “Not only was I still breastfeeding and physically and mentally exhausted from being a first-time mom while training and competing — I was assigned a roommate at the competition. There was...