Founding of Nike

Nike began as Blue Ribbon Sports, a company founded by the runner Phil Knight and his coach, the University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman, to import running shoes from Japan, in particular the Onitsuka Tiger brand. In the early 1970s it began to design its own footwear and took the name Nike, after the Greek goddess of victory, with a logo called the Swoosh, created by a design student, Carolyn Davidson. The company became prominent through its sponsorship of athletes, such as Steve Prefontaine, and above all Michael Jordan, whose Air Jordan line was launched in the mid-1980s. Nike is based in Beaverton, Oregon, and is the largest sportswear company in the world.

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