adidas believes sport has the power to change lives. While the world has become more inclusive of different races and genders, there is still a long way to go to include people with disabilities. Anyone who has run a race in ill-fitting shoes knows the result is pain and poor performance. People with Down syndrome have very differently shaped feet, making it nearly impossible to find a performance shoe that fits, closing off access to the benefits of sport. adidas first became aware of the needs of the Down Syndrome community through their partnership with Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman. Understanding his needs revealed how his needs were representative of a significant population in need of inclusive footwear. The design of a truly adaptive performance shoe took three years, from initial meetings to foot testing, from one prototype to the next, hundreds of miles of wear-testing, focus groups and rounds of feedback from both people with Down syndrome and a broad spectrum of disabilities. One shoe. Five life-changing, adaptive features. The five main features: a stiff heel-counter, a magnetic closure and tactile toggle, a gusseted tongue, a low-pressure lacing system, and a wider toe-box have been designed and adapted through work, initially with the Down syndrome community, and now with the 1.3 billion person disabled community, to fully address their unique foot differences. The shoe’s five features have created transformative change, including improved independence, greatly reduced foot pain, and increased physical activity. Working with GAMUT Management—a leader in inclusive product design—and other disabled athletes, adidas developed a revolutionary adaptive running shoe, which met their quality standards and received the GAMUT Seal of Approval™, a mark to assure customers who purchase adaptive products that a stringent set of requirements developed by experts in the disability space have been met. The Supernova Adaptive was launched on World Down Syndrome Day, 2026 in 29 countries, at adidas and specialty shoe and sporting goods stores, and on adidas.com globally. Our objective was to make running and sport accessible to those who had never been able to wear performance footwear. 42% of all purchases on adidas.com in the US have come from people who are first-time adidas buyers. This shows how the community has responded, enthusiastically embracin