Brand giants deliver world-beating gear

Only a month to go before the greatest sporting show on earth - the 2012 London Summer Olympics - and many of the world's top sports equipment suppliers are stepping up their efforts to grasp the unique marketing opportunity for their showcase brands.

The US sporting goods giant Nike has just unveiled the gear to be worn by Chinese athletes in London this summer competing in archery, basketball, beach volleyball, tennis, track and field, weightlifting and wrestling.

"Nike has been bringing innovation to Chinese athletes since 1984.

"These new products can help athletes unlock their potential and perform at their best," said Craig Cheek, vice-president and general manager of Nike China.

Innovations being introduced to gear by Nike include its lightest-ever "Hyper Elite" basketball uniform for China's men's and women's teams, and the Nike "Pro TurboSpeed" uniform for track-and-field athletes.

The Oregon-based sports goods giant will also introduce Nike+ basketball footwear later this month, just ahead of the London games, which will introduce a new digital element to the sport, through sensors in the sneakers that can track every move made by a wearer, and then send that information to the user's mobile phone.

In addition to the new gear, Nike has been sponsoring some of the best Chinese athletes, including Liu Xiang, the Olympic 110m hurdles gold medalist; Li Na, the winner of the 2011 French Open tennis championship; and Yi Jianlian, the NBA player.

The German sports goods brand Adidas AG, the official sportswear partner of the home British team, meanwhile, will supply more than 900 British athletes with about 175,000 items of clothing. Adidas has also been featuring some top Chinese athletes, including the boxer Zou Shiming, NBA player Sun Yue and Wang Zhizhi, Chinese national basketball team player.

"This is still an era in which sports brands have huge resources," said Ren Hai, professor at Beijing Sport University. "An opportunity, such as the Olympics, will be taken by others if you don't bid for it. So any company with enough strength will try to get involved."