On the same day the Olympic Games opens this month, Sotheby's will put on sale running shoes made by Nike's co-founder for 1960s Olympian Harry Jerome that could fetch $1 million.
The rare pair of track and field spikes designed by Bill Bowerman for Jerome, a Canadian sprinter who won 100-metre bronze at the 1964 Tokyo Games, features a red arrow that was a prelude to the famous Nike swoosh logo.
Sotheby's New York will put the white lace-up shoes on sale online from Friday, July 23 to Monday, August 2.
The auction house estimates that they could go for between $800,000 and $1.2m.
The sale comes as the market for rare sports shoes, previously seen as niche, soars.
In April, a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1s worn by rapper Kanye West sold for $1.8m, triple the previous record for sneakers.
The shoes beat the record held by a pair of Nike Air Jordan 1s, which sold for $615,000 in August 2020 at a Christie's auction.
Sotheby's said the shoe by Bowerman, who founded Nike with Phil Knight, "represents an important chapter in the origins of the Nike brand".
The auction house is also selling a pair of Converse Fastbreak sneakers that basketball legend Michael Jordan wore during the 1984 Olympic trials.
They are expected to fetch up to $100,000.
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
