Another look at the summer from our intern James Gumina.
As a young person in an age of limitless information, there are always a lot of things on my mind, mostly sports-related, and often focused on what’s happening off the field. From marketing campaigns to broadcasts to business strategy, it’s a lot to process. So, to clear some space, here are a few things from this week that have stuck with me more than most. Whether you’re in the business, a media nerd, or someone who can’t stop thinking about how the game is packaged, I hope something here sticks with you, too.
Faith Kipyegon, Nike, and Breaking 4
Across sports, there are few milestones more mythical than the 4-minute mile. The mark stood unbroken by anyone until Sir Roger Bannister eclipsed it at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, England in 1954. Since that day, a steady stream of men have surpassed the 4-minute mark. However, once Nike introduced carbon-plated super shoes in 2017, the floodgates opened, and today, over 2,000 men have run the mile in under 4 minutes.
Despite the increase in men going under the 4-minute barrier, no woman has yet broken the mark. Since 1967, a new women’s world record has only been set 15 times, 13 of which came before 1995, during an era of underregulated PED usage. The record was lowered in 2019, and then smashed by Faith Kipyegon of Kenya on July 21, 2023. Kipyegon dropped the record by over 5 seconds, an unheard-of drop in such a short distance, lowering it to 4:07.64. Kipyegon is the only woman to ever go below 4:10.00 in the mile, marking her as the only current female candidate to break the mythical 4-minute mark.
Nike, her main sponsor, understood this and set up a “Breaking 4” campaign to facilitate her attempt, much like they did with fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s successful effort to break the 2:00:00 marathon in 2019. To shave a mammoth 8 seconds off her record, Nike planned every detail of the event, from pacer formation, to shoes, to the “flysuit.”
Nike Sport Research Lab designed custom shoes featuring the largest air unit for energy return, the lightest yarn ever used in an upper, and an outsole with a carbon fiber plate containing six 3D-printed titanium racing spikes. Her suit included what Nike called “Aeronodes,” small half-spheres designed to limit drag.
The attempt took place last week, on the 26th. While she finished the first two laps on pace to break 4, she faded at the end and fell short. She registered a time of 4:06.9 on the in-stadium clock. However, controversy arose when Nike reported her time as 4:06.42, instead of the time shown on the stadium clock. It later came out that Nike used the time she crossed the start instead of her gun time to calculate the result.
While it doesn’t matter much, since the attempt couldn’t be counted as a world record due to the pacer formation, it broke several rules of track and field and caused quite a controversy. At the end of the day, it showed that the event was more of a marketing ploy than a genuine shot at the record. Nike Sport Research Lab and its innovations were front and center, and Kipyegon gave the record a real shot. While she fell short, she still broke her previous best, with or without Nike’s timing boost, and perhaps some young girl will be inspired by the performance Kipyegon put on and one day break the record herself, if Kipyegon doesn’t get there first.
Baseball and the 4th of July
Having baseball on the 4th of July is a time-honored tradition, as synonymous with the holiday as Thanksgiving and football or Christmas and basketball, though the NFL and Netflix may soon change that. And yet, every 4th of July, I think MLB could better capitalize on the holiday by turning it into an All-Star Game weekend event.
There are a few reasons this makes sense, primarily because the halfway point of the season has already come and gone, and will be well past by the time of the actual All-Star Break later this month. Dividing the season more evenly would make far more sense. And since people often refer to the post-All-Star Break as the “second half,” correcting this semantic difference would make me happy.
Aside from that, having the Home Run Derby on the 4th of July, followed by a fireworks show, would be an incredible event that could draw massive viewership. Unfortunately, this would mean teams lose out on 4th of July ticket revenue, so it probably won’t happen. But I’ll continue to hope.
Stray Thoughts: USMNT has navigated a drama-filled road to the final of the Gold Cup against Mexico, they will face a hostile crowd on Sunday. NWSL plans to pause in 2026 to accommodate the Men’s world cup. Joey Chestnut returned to the Hotdog eating competition and fell just short of his record, the behind the scenes of the event is much more interesting than the nauseating competition.
Reading, STEM and The Immeasurable Impact of Athlete Influence…