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Athletic footwear

By: Roberto Garabell

Athletic footwear, depending on the setting and the actual type of footwear, can also go by the name trainers (British English), sandshoes or joggers (Australian English) running shoes, runners or gutties (Canadian English, Australian English, Hiberno-English), sneakers, tennis shoes (North American English, Australian English), gym shoes, tennies, sport shoes, sneaks, or takkies (South African English) and rubber shoes.

The term athletic footwear is used for competing in a marathon or half marathon, basketball, and tennis (amongst others) but tends to exclude shoes for sports played on grass such as football (soccer) and rugby, which are commonly known as "boots", or in North America as cleats.

The athletic footwear themselves are made of supple material, characteristically featuring a sole made of thick rubber. While the original design was simple, manufacturers have since tailored athletic footwear for the different purposes that they can be used for. A specific illustration of this is the spiked footwear developed for track running. It is also a good idea to get your foot measured by trained footwear professionals. Also, some come in leather high-end marathon running footwear will often come in different shapes suited to different foot types, gait etc.

There is a variety of specialized footwear designed for specific uses:
- Racing flats
- Track shoe
- Skate shoes
- Climbing shoe
- Approach shoe
- Wrestling shoes
- Cleats
- Football boot

Types of athletic footwear:
- High-tops cover the ankle.
- Low-tops do not cover the ankle.
- Mid-cut are in-between high-tops and low-tops.
- Sneaker boots extend to the calf.

Athletic footwear industry leaders

Nike is currently the most dominant athletic footwear company. Nike's sales have grown from $2 million in 1972 to $270 million in 1980 to over $3 billion in 1991. In 1997, Nike's footwear grossed nearly $3.8 billion in the US.

How have the leaders changed over time?

Before Nike's rise to supremacy in the mid-80's, Adidas was the global leader in athletic footwear. Adidas has always been above all involved with the production of soccer and tennis shoes. Since the 1980's, Nike has been the most successful seller of athletic footwear despite a sales lapse in the mid-'80's.

In 1987, Reebok owned 30.1% of the athletic footwear market compared to Nike's 18.2%. In the 1980's Reebok's industry dominance was a result of Nike's lack of ability to predict the popularity of women's athletics, most notably aerobics.

Nike was able to reclaim its position atop the athletic footwear industry in the late '80's and early '90's with the introduction of its "Air Jordan" shoes. Nike sales now comprise nearly half of branded athletic footwear market.

This article explains the type of athletic footwear out there on the market, what type of footwear is used for what kind of activities, and also gives a brief overview of who are currently leading the industry called athletic footwear, all these can be considered next time anyone goes out in search of new athletic footwear.