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 | Behind two of the world's largest sportswear organisations lies a tale of rivalry, suspicion and hostility. Adidas and Puma, both highly successful sportswear companies, trace their roots back to Herzogenaurach, a small Bavarian village in southern Germany. Today, Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. Similarly, Puma is well-known for its high-tech and innovative sports designs. For the last 60 years, these two companies have battled each other for supremacy in the world's marketplace. This rivalry has |
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effectively split the small village of Herzogenaurach down the middle for all of this time. There are families who work for Puma and others who work for Adidas. Indeed, the two companies have only recently buried old scores – and brought unity back to the small Bavarian village of their origins.
Back in the 1920s, Herzogenaurach was a peaceful village where two brothers, Adolf and Rudolf (Rudi) Dassler, grew up to share a talent for making leather sporting shoes. The brothers began to make sports shoes in their mother's laundry with the help of their father, who was a master cobbler. In the early days, business was good. In 1936 Adolf, or Adi as his friends called him, drove to the Berlin Olympic Games with a suitcase full of spikes. Adi managed to persuade the legendary US sprinter, Jesse Owens, to wear his specially designed shoes. Jesse Owens went on to win four gold medals. As a result, Dassler secured a worldwide reputation for the quality of its shoes. By the beginning of the Second World War, the Dassler brothers were selling an impressive 200,000 sports shoes a year.
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Glossary
Rivalry (n)
Teams, people or companies that compete with one another.
Supremacy (n)
When one person or group has more power and influence than others.
Laundry (n)
A business that washes and irons clothes.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 February 2010 11:40 )
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