9001 - The Launch of Nike: Craig Virgin's 1972 Handmade Nike Track Spikes, Worn in the USA-USSR Junior Track Meet - Seen in Nike's First Poster

The Launch of Nike: Craig Virgin's 1972 Handmade Nike Track Spikes, Worn in the USA-USSR Junior Track Meet - Seen in Nike's First Poster In the summer of 1972, Nike was still in its infancy, having only recently introduced footwear under its now-iconic name and Swoosh logo trademark. Co-founder Bill Bowerman, the legendary University of Oregon track coach, was relentlessly experimenting with shoe construction, developing lightweight racing footwear intended to give competitive runners every possible advantage. One beneficiary was 16-year-old Illinois distance-running prodigy Craig Virgin, who received a pair of handmade prototype spikes created by Bowerman and orthotics specialist Dennis Vixie through pioneer Nike promotional representative Geoff Hollister. Virgin wore the handmade experimental shoes on July 29, 1972, while representing the United States in the 5000-meter race at the USA-USSR Junior Invitational Track and Field Meet in Sacramento, California. The nationally televised Cold War-era competition is believed to mark the first appearance of Nike racing spikes in international track and field competition. A photograph of Virgin leading two Soviet runners was subsequently selected for Nike's first promotional advertising poster, released in August 1972, forever linking the young athlete and his prototype footwear to the company's earliest marketing and sports competition history. Virgin went on to become one of America's greatest distance runners as a five-time Illinois state high school champion, nine-time Big 10 champion, and nine-time NCAA All-American. He won one NCAA cross-country championship at the University of Illinois, became a three-time Olympian, and captured consecutive World Cross Country Championships in 1980 and 1981—the first and only American man to win the prestigious event. This extraordinary archive from the launch of Nike is highlighted by Virgin's original handmade 1972 prototype spikes, accompanied by his warm-up suit from the event, official meet program, and an example of Nike's historic first-ever promotional poster. Together, these artifacts preserve a remarkable moment in the company's formative years, when groundbreaking footwear experimentation and the achievements of promising young athletes helped establish the foundation of a new global athletic shoe and apparel empire. The archive includes: - Original 1972 Nike prototype racing spikes custom-made for Craig Virgin by Bill Bowerman and Dennis Vixie: an original pair of track spikes featuring white nylon uppers, contrasting black leather Nike Swooshes, white laces, reinforced heel panels, and specially modified spike plates. Created during Nike's early, experimental era, the shoes incorporate several pioneering design features reflecting Bowerman's pursuit of lighter, faster, and more efficient racing footwear. These innovative qualities include: lightweight nylon uppers, an unconventional material for competitive racing footwear at the time, which Bowerman had pioneered through his earlier work with Japanese manufacturer Onitsuka Tiger; a raised, cushioned heel, departing from the flat-soled design of racing spikes at that time, providing relief to the Achilles tendon over long distances and offering better support for Virgin's midfoot running mechanics; and plastic forefoot spike plates hand-drilled and grooved to reduce weight and increase flexibility. Notably, four of the spikes actually fell off during Virgin's race, a telling reminder of the risky and experimental nature of these early prototypes, which were still being developed and refined through competition. The shoes also boast a singular aesthetic innovation: the now-iconic Nike Swoosh logo. Virgin recalls the running community's reaction in 1972: "The Swoosh, nobody's seen yet. It's just—what is that? A Swoosh? What the hell is a Swoosh? And 'Nike'? How's that pronounced?" Though worn only once, the shoes exhibit pronounced discoloration due to age-toning of the glue used in their custom construction, as well as deterioration to the soles. Virgin reflects: "Bowerman did not wear gloves while making them and got glue residue all over the white uppers. Fifteen, twenty years later, it all started to discolor from oxidization of the glue residue and Bowerman's 'handprints or smudges' began to magically appear. The spiked shoe soles had a sheet of green urethane rubber stitched to the shoe last that Bowerman thought would provide additional traction on a modern urethane rubber track. But, unbeknownst to him, Sacramento had an old fashioned baked clay track popular in California which I'm sure didn't help. Over the years, the urethane polymers started to break down." Personally worn by Virgin during his first international competition—a "leap of faith" in what was then the biggest race of his life—this exceptionally early Nike prototype represents a tangible connection to Bowerman's pioneering experiments in athletic footwear.