Nike’s Beautiful X Powerful Collection
Nike’s new Beautiful X Powerful Collection is a rare instance when athletic shoes reach beyond the ordinary, bringing together sport culture and self-expression, as well as highlighting and celebrating the role of women in athletics at every level.
The line of shoes – Nike’s second collection that is inspired by female athletes and their accomplishments – is championed by Elaine Thompson, a Jamaican track and field star. Thompson rose to fame last summer when the Jamaican athlete dominated the 100 and 200-metre sprints in Rio, Brazil, making her the first female sprinter, as well as the first Jamaican, to achieve that remarkable feat since the late Florence Griffith-Joyner at Seoul 1988. She also claimed the fastest 100-metre of the season at the Shanghai Diamond League this month to cement her place as sprint favourite for this year’s world championships.
The Beautiful X Powerful Collection is a true accomplishment in athletic design. It includes five Nike shoes crafted out of white perforated leather with gold accents. Each shoe features Thompson’s signature, her mantra of “one life, one chance” and her winning times of 21:78 for 200 meters and 10:71 for 100 meters.
For Thompson, the project is a chance to influence young athletes who may look up to her as a source of inspiration, as well as an opportunity to promote the role of female athletes in modern athletics.
“I want the track and field industry to remember that I am a young, powerful and strong woman,” says the 24-year-old star.
“I want to leave a legacy that motivates the younger generation. As a woman in sport, I want others to know they can do it too. I want them to know they are not losers; they are always winners. Just because you come in second or third in a race, doesn’t mean you are a loser. You are still a winner on the inside. And even when you become a champion, you still need to work hard, to achieve even more.”
Thompson has come from humble roots, not seeing success until relatively late in her career. As a fledgling runner, Thompson competed for two high schools in the small rural town of Banana Ground, Jamaica. Though she never achieved any remarkable degree of fame during those years, she still had faith in her talent as a runner. She was recruited for Jamaica’s University of Technology, where she continued to practice her craft. In 2015, she ran a 100-metre race in 10.97 seconds and won the international field.
“I grew up running track and field. I did it because I loved it,” she says. “I didn’t know I would become the fastest woman in the world. It’s a wonderful feeling, to be where I am today. It took and still takes a lot of hard work, determination and sacrifice.”
Thompson, who is 1.67m tall and weighs 57kg, saw her career kick off in 2013. She improved her running times continuously before reaching beneath 11 seconds for the 100-metre and 22 seconds for the 200-metre two years later.
She says that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, her training partner and a fellow Jamaican gold medalist, is her main source of inspiration today.
“She always tells me to be myself,” Thompson says of Pryce. “She tells me never to let anyone stop me from becoming the person I want to be. In Rio, when we both made it to the finals, she told me that we both need to run our own race, and stay in our own lane. I look up to her and respect her greatly.”
The Beautiful X Powerful Collection is an opportunity for Thompson to express her inner stylist, she says, explaining that being different from the herd is an ideal she applies to all aspects of her life.
“I love style so I call myself a stylist. I want to be unique,” she says. “I change my look on a whim. That’s the same philosophy I apply to running. I want to be as unique with my style as I am on the track.”
For Thompson, her ultimate aim is to continuously improve – both as an athlete and as an inspiration for aspiring track and field stars across the globe.
“My goal is to strive to be better, and to be successful,” she explains. “I think I might have accomplished that already! But every day, I continue to push myself so it’s important that I stay healthy and injury free.”
The Nike Beautiful X Powerful Collection is available from Thursday 1 June 2017.
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