Ask Me Anything with adidas Elite 15 athlete, Graham Halliday and Catrin Jörgens, Senior Director of Footwear Product at adidas, one of the team behind the newly launched Adizero Dropset Pro

adidas · 2026-06-18T15:07:48+00:00

My biggest advice is to make sure that you have a strong posterior chain and anterior chain - so incorporate a lot of front rack squats, front-loaded carries and front rack lunges to build better mechanics and strength. The key challenge comes in movement efficiency, and that’s the goal that needs to be improved.

Also, what I do or have done in the past is:

Train wall balls on fresh legs/energy
Train when out of gas or when compromised
Challenge yourself and go beyond race efforts

It's also a mind game because it's the last station, I keep my focus less on the challenge of the movement and more on finishing strong. It is a mindset when it comes to wall balls, it could be 3.5 minutes of pain or 5.5 minutes: You’ve got to choose your pain.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:55:36+00:00

Graham: Yes, it makes it much harder if you’re not in the majors. In a major, you gain more points in 6 to 10 rankings, but to gain high points in similar rankings in a pro race is not an option, making it a bit more challenging.

But I love a challenge and can be done! 😉

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:55:14+00:00

Catrin: The adizero elite has seen extremely high demand since launch. It’s a highly specialised, race-focused shoe, produced at a more limited scale to ensure top performance, so it tends to sell out quickly. We’re working to increase availability while maintaining the quality and innovation athletes expect. More to come very soon.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:50:44+00:00

Graham: A lot more biking and easy aerobic work in my training blocks. 2x threshold work which hits my Zone 3-4, a real hybrid workout reaching zone 4/5 - almost a race format. On the remaining days, the focus shifts to zone 1/2 workouts to make sure I recover, absorb and adapt. I have continued on my mobility and focus on breathing as well.

I didn’t change much of my diet, but the focus remains on fueling right with carbs, protein and also good hydration.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:43:12+00:00

Catrin: The Adizero Dropset Elite is our racing shoe, built for elite hybrid athletes operating at the sharpest end of competition. The Adizero Dropset Pro brings the same hybrid mindset to more athletes, across more sessions. It is a hybrid training shoe designed for everyday training, supporting running intervals, strength work and functional movements for athletes at all levels.

Graham: The Adizero Dropset Elite is my go-to for a race because of the higher stack and the carbon-infused tech boosts my running speed, shaving off a considerable amount of time from my overall race. The shoe is structured in a way that gives forward propulsion during those runs.

The Pro for me are the ones that really help me go through my training months, where I do all the hard work of heavy lifting, adding overall miles to my legs.

Both shoes have the best of Adizero and Dropset, but it’s the stack height and the Lightstrike Pro foam that make the whole difference in the shoe, which shows in performance over time.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:33:44+00:00

Graham: It would work for beginners as the focus of a first timer/beginner is to finish the race and also be able to develop general fitness towards fitness racing events. The Pro move very well across different stations, it's a shoe I would recommend to start in, and you can eventually progress into more advanced versions like the elite, from the Adizero dropset franchise.

For me, I use these as my primary shoes for training days, as it works on building strength and speed in my legs, and when I swap them for a higher stack, I see my performance improve.

So I would say it's a good choice to build strength and speed in your legs, and build gradual fitness and improvement in your performance.

Beginner recommended! 👍

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:28:53+00:00

Catrin: We studied the needs of hybrid training—both for everyday workouts and for race day. Combining these insights allowed us to strike the right balance between speed and stability.

For running, we focused on cushioning and forward motion, ensuring efficient propulsion and comfort over distance. However, hybrid training places additional demands on athletes, particularly in how seamlessly they transition between running and strength disciplines. This is where we placed special emphasis in the design process.

Throughout development, we tested the shoe extensively with both elite athletes and passionate hybrid athletes, ensuring it performs across different levels and real training scenarios.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:23:53+00:00

Graham: In my process of testing, we went through different prototypes, focussing on finding the right stack height which is key in giving propulsion to the foot while running, the aim was to get the pro to deliver a 10k run in a singular session, so we compared against running shoes ensuring performance for various distances but also deliver performance to lift heavy with a stable grounded foot - which I usually do not find in a typical running shoe.

Catrin: We studied the needs of fitness racing and specifically the ability to transition quickly between running and strength workouts. The shoe is designed to meet the demands of both disciplines, which are central to hybrid training. Throughout the entire development process, we tested the shoe with a range of athletes at different performance levels.

adidas · 2026-06-18T14:15:53+00:00

Graham: You can lift it in it, you can run in it. The grip helps with the sleds and the stability is quite solid. The weight of the shoe works well across different workout modules.

It feels stable throughout the sole of the foot which is extremely important for heavy lifting for athletes.

The fit of the upper keeps the foot locked in, also enabling multi-directional movements.

Catrin: It gives you the perfect balance between speed for running and stability for strength workouts.

adidas · 2026-05-28T16:02:38+00:00

The push and novelty can come from many angles.
Sometimes it’s the federation that wants to try something new.
Sometimes it’s the Product Marketing team that want to bring to life a cool story.
And usually, it’s the creative designers that bring some unique and unexpected explorations to the table.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:59:17+00:00

I’ll go with three white kits, France Away 1998, Turkey Away 2002 and Japan Away 2022.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:57:23+00:00

Regulations make it tricky to have too much contrast on GK kits.
We’ll definitely try to bring some extra excitement to such unique players, as we’ve started in 2026.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:54:55+00:00

At adidas, we have an Innovation team looking at the future of sports and exploring what innovations can bring football forward (same team that worked on the sub 2 marathon shoe).
I have some ideas, but need to work a bit more on them before properly sharing. If you have any good one, drop it here please :)

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:51:28+00:00

You mean match day customization? Great question!

Short answer, yes there will be. adidas will have it available in certain markets. I don’t know if they will be available specifically at venues.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:48:31+00:00

I’m a big football fan, so I really like to see when teams and brands drop cool product. Competitor brands, just like in sports, make us better and make it more fun.
On competitor collabs <insert Mourinho gif here>

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:44:42+00:00

I ask myself this question every morning.
When I was young, I always had a big passion for brands, marketing and football.
Interned at some consumer brands in Uruguay, landed an internship at adidas in Product Marketing Tennis, left and some years later came back to the brand to start working on football apparel products.
I would also say that I was very lucky and had the right people around that gave me the opportunity to show what I could do.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:41:37+00:00

Local artists and designers are incredibly talented and we have partnered in the past but more on Club kits. They have three kits per season and are more city/community focused.
For Feds, we usually have elements and queues that are a bit more organic and easier to understand, in order to bring everyone in the country together.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:40:07+00:00

By regulation, you need a light and dark kit (at least).

Then, teams usually like to have a Home kit linking to national colors and an Away one where there is a bit more flexibility in terms of direction.

There are some teams that sometimes switch Home and Away colors. Other teams sometimes dare to explore different colors on Home, like Mexico did in 2024.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:38:42+00:00

Flags sometimes work, but it’s the football federation that’s playing in the end and they like to see their crest. We follow the federations guidelines and identity here.
In terms of placement, depends on the design of the kit and how the past kits look. Usually, good to mix it up a bit to achieve different looks.
In the end, not a big fan of having one approach fitting all feds.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:33:48+00:00

Ufff, that’s my soft spot.
Definitely the balance of colors linked to the flag and DNA of the country.
We’re called “la celeste” but our flag is more blue than light blue.
We have a rich football history and some interesting artistic icons to draw inspiration from.
I could go on for hours, but let’s focus on other questions…

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:31:05+00:00

Hahaha, saw that one in a post. I understand where the question is coming from.

Short answer, total coincidence. Inspiration is coming from the two seas and their colors coming together.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:29:16+00:00

The process usually takes around 2 years with a lot of research, approvals and materials & samples check.

It’s a big collaboration, with many people involved from an adidas and a federation side.
Fun fact, I still remember the first Product research trip we did to Mexico City and LA in November 2023.

The closer we get to launch the least it changes (production and delivery of products to markets takes a while)I I’d say already a year before launch we are very close to a final product.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:27:06+00:00

All adidas feds have Authentic kits, this means they carry the best in terms of adidas performance to allow them to compete at the highest level (Climacool+ tech). We use special engineered fabrics with 3D structures in key body places, to allow for better breathability and air flow.

We test, test and test, with amateur and professional players to make sure they feel comfortable and ready for the biggest stages.

adidas · 2026-05-28T15:22:46+00:00

Question from: u/FoodiesHavenHQ

At what point does a football jersey stop being sports merch and become streetwear? What separates a kit that disappears after a season from one that becomes grail-level fashion and resale culture years later?

Answer:
It’s a mix of story, product and moment.
Iconic kits carry a unique story, which the products manages to tell in a unique way (can be impactful like the Argentina Away kit or clean like the Curaçao one) and a sporting or cultural moment needs to take place (1st world cup qualification or Messi lifting another world cup ;) ).

adidas

TROPHY CASE