At the end of May 2022, during the Prefontaine Classic (an international athletics meeting), the American-Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis took the microphone to say how "delighted he was to discover the magic of Hayward." It was an obligatory reference to the "Hayward magic," the atmosphere that the public used to enjoy in the good old days of Mr. As for the athletes, they seem to appreciate the modernization. He fears that they're losing sight of their regular audience. Englishman Peter Thompson, a former Nike executive, thinks the new facilities are too expensive and too fancy.
Knight is the main financer of the big stadium operation, estimated at over 270 million dollars. A stylized reproduction of his face is next to those of four champions trained in Eugene (Otis Davis, Raevyn Rogers, Ashton Eaton and Steve Prefontaine). Bowerman appears there in majesty, as he does on the sides of the tower in the shape of an Olympic torch, which marks the entrance to the stadium. It has been replaced by a beautiful complex that hides a museum dedicated to the Nike epic under its bleachers. Knight there, the sports arena was dilapidated and open to the elements. But his memory floats around the gleaming Hayward Field, the university's renovated stadium. STEPH CHAMBERS/Getty Images via AFPīill Bowerman, the other man behind the Oregon enterprise, doesn't have a building named after him on campus. Hayward Field after its renovation on Apin Eugene, Oregon. Finally, on the edge of Franklin Boulevard in Eugene, stands the imposing Matthew Knight Arena, a basketball court rebuilt in memory of the late son of the brand's founder. The modernized law school was named after his father, and the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact was built with 500 million dollars (475 million euros) from the Knight Foundation, pending a second building for which the same amount was transferred in 2021. On campus, the library was doubled in size and now bears his name. But it was for Eugene and its university that he saved the biggest piece of the pie. Some was for the benefit of Oregon Republican Party candidates and his hometown basketball team – the Portland Trail Blazers – which he wanted to acquire. The stadium becomes a beautiful sports complexįortune made, the owner-founder of Nike instead escalated his generosity. He even threatened to cut back on his donations, before changing his mind. Knight stiffened up when he realized how little the president of the university supported him. Later, when revelations about the working conditions of Asian subcontractors provoked student demonstrations in Eugene, Mr. Even worse, the man was sharing his expertise with Nike's great German rival, a collaboration that would result in a shoe model named. In the early 1980s, he nearly choked when he learned that a coach, his old friend Bill Dellinger, was outfitting college athletes with Adidas shoes and gear. Knight and his alma mater, the University of Oregon. Phil Knight is the lead funder of the $270 million-plus stadium deal
A metal fence was installed, much to the displeasure of the purists who dreamed of a less protected site. Philip Knight, its co-founder, helped the city of Eugene acquire the plot of land around "Pre's Rock," in exchange for its maintenance. The tragedy made him the hero of a legend that the company has never stopped cultivating. It's a place of worship where people pay their respects in front of a plaque bearing the likeness of Steve Prefontaine, a runner and ambassador for the brand in the early 1970s.īefore meeting his death against this rock one night in May 1975, this mustachioed young man of 24 had so well embodied the rise of jogging, and the libertarian spirit of the beginnings of Nike, that he had become its image, and its icon. The simple rocky protrusion on the side of the road is where athletes from all over the world come to lay down a few relics, sneakers, bibs and tank-tops. As for the newcomers, the event may be an opportunity to take a detour to "Pre's Rock" a few hundred meters away. Most competitors are already familiar with the Hayward Field track and field stadium, which they're frequenting as the meet's base. "Track-and-field capital" (as they say in the United States) - never has the quiet Oregon city earned that nickname more than in this summer of 2022 when it's hosting the World Championships. "Tracktown, USA," a mural announces proudly at the exit of the Interstate-5 freeway, heading to Eugene. This summer, the World Athletics Championships are being held in Eugene, in the stadium modernized largely thanks to financing from Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The Nike saga: Back to Hayward Field, where it all began By Eric Collier Published on Jat 12h30, updated at 17h04 on July 24, 2022
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