Six defending IAAF World Champions and the current marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie demonstrated their running and athletic skills today during the adidas Running Camp held at the world renowned Athletes’ Performance Institute (API) in Los Angeles, California.
Gold medallists from Osaka in 2006, Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Christine Ohuruogu and Blanka Vlasic showcased how every runner is different through a series of technical training exercises led by Athletes’ Performance Institute coaches and the Head of Engineering for the adidas Innovation Team, Gerd Manz.
Running is fundamental to nearly every professional athlete’s training plan, but how they use running exercises in their training can vary significantly. In the case of these seven world class athletes, their training plans range from very technical repetition drills, to intensive development training for endurance based athletes like marathoner Haile Gebrselassie.
“Each of these athletes put their bodies through very different training routines and thus have different product needs to support and enhance their performance,” said Gerd Manz, Head of Engineering for the adidas Innovation Team. “Today’s event gave insights into these training methods while highlighting specific adidas product technologies, such as TECHFIT™, ForMotion™ and Bounce, that will help them defend their IAAF World Championship titles this summer in Berlin.”
Sprinters Tyson Gay and Jeremy Wariner wore the most technologically advanced compression apparel adidas TECHFIT™ PowerWeb as they demonstrated their starting block techniques. TECHFIT™ PowerWeb gives athletes like Tyson Gay and Jeremy Wariner the ultimate edge when exploding out of the blocks. The compression reduces muscle vibration which in turn focuses energy to enable the best possible results in both training and competition. The TPU Powerbands act like a slingshot to generate maximum explosive power, acceleration and endurance so athletes don’t just perform, they out perform.
Demonstrating the various running aspects that make up the ultimate sprinter Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Christine Ohuruogu showed the importance of warm ups and speed work repetitions, wearing the adiZero Tempo to provide extra support and comfort during these non-spike training sessions. Allyson Felix explained, “We are all sprinters but we all have different needs and preferences; my adiZero Tempo’s for repetition work, my Shug spikes for serious track exercises and my Bounce trainers for my warm up runs and stretches.”
Blanka Vlasic had a stunning 2008 season going unbeaten in the high jump over a record 34 competitions. She explained how comfortable apparel and supportive footwear were key for her training routine. Wearing the adiStar line, the Croat demonstrated how the unique ForMotion™ cut allowed full movement and flexibility of her body as she rose to heights of over 2m.
Meanwhile, Haile Gebrselassie, the first person ever to run under a 2:04 marathon, took part in an apparel test to show the importance of breathable fabric for all runners. Using a thermo camera to track the former Olympic and World Champion’s body temperature Haile ran his marathon pace in a regular t-shirt before switching to the lightest and most breathable range of adidas apparel adiZero featuring ClimaCool technology. “The right apparel and footwear is essential for achieving world record breaking times. With the adiZero line I have performance apparel and footwear that gives me the perfect mix of support, comfort and breathability,” said the 36-year-old Ethiopian.
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