Adidas create special shoes for Indian heptathlete Swapna Barman

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 12, 2019

Adidas has created a range of customised footwear for the Indian heptathlete and Asian Games gold-medallist Swapna Barman to fit her 12-toed feet.

After Barman voiced that it was challenging to find adequate footwear to accommodate her 12 toes, the German sportswear brand Adidas presented her with a range of shoes specifically designed to fit her.

"I'm so excited to finally have these pairs,” said Barman, as reported by the Press Trust of India. “I have already started training in these and I know from here on I can focus entirely on improving my performances without worrying about any pain."

The shoes were created by the Adidas team’s Athlete Services Lab in Herzogenaurach, Germany, where Barman visited for a fitting session and footwear analysis. Adidas is investing in its Indian market and also recently appointed Hima Das and Nikhat Zareen as brand ambassadors. The collaboration with Barman also shows a commitment to diversity and recognition of Barman’s growing social media following with over 4,600 Facebook followers.

"Taking into consideration the unique task we had at hand, we at adidas are proud to provide Swapna with unique pairs that shall help her across the seven different disciplines of Heptathlon," said Sharad Singla, Adidas India’s director of brand marketing. “I would like to thank the adidas team in India and at the for helping me with this solution,” said Barman.