History Asics

It all started with Kihachiro Onitsuka, who founded Onitsuka Co. Ltd. in Kobe, Japan in 1949. His goal was to create a healthy lifestyle for the Japanese youth after the war. He saw the Japanese youth as the future of the country and wanted to inspire them through sports during difficult times.

Today, ASICS employs over 5,000 people worldwide, including around 500 in Europe. We are the world’s fifth-largest sports brand and have become the fastest-growing sports shoe brand in Europe in recent years. ASICS is the number one professional running shoe brand in Europe with the highest customer loyalty. Last but not least, we are the second-largest indoor sports shoe brand in Europe.

In 1976, Lasse Virén won the 5000m at the Montreal Olympics wearing ASICS shoes. Many people would have stopped at this achievement, but not the ASICS team, who convinced the athlete to make changes to the soles of his spikes before the start of his next race.

They reduce the thickness of the sole, and Viren wins the 10,000m. Lasse Viren is the only athlete to have won both distances at two consecutive Olympic Games (Munich/Montreal).

He holds his running shoes in his hands during the lap of honour.

Since 1964, ASICS has never missed an Olympic Games, equipping athletes who have gone on to stand on the podium, including gold medallists Rosa Mota and Gelindo Bordin in 1988, Naoko Takahashi in 2000, and Mizuki Noguchi and Stefano Baldini in 2004.

ASICS is synonymous with success in running.

Asics running models have been named the best running shoe four times (in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009) by the world's most authoritative sports publication, Runner's World.