A Paralympian is urging Nike to start selling individual trainers to single-leg amputees after spotting that the sports brand is using mannequins with running blades to promote its products.
Stef Reid, a former Paralympian medal-winner who represented both Canada and Great Britain, has accused the sportswear company of failing to live up to the values of diversity and inclusion that it is promoting through its para-athlete models by refusing to sell single shoes.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed 3.6m times, she said she was thrilled to be shown photos of mannequins in Nike stores with running blades wearing a single shoe.
In response she wrote to Nike to ask: “Is it possible to buy just one shoe because I only have one foot?” Reid, who won Paralympic medals in the F44 long jump, said the answer was no.
She had been offered various one-off discounts on pairs of shoes, but said: “Next time I buy running shoes, I’m still only going to have one foot so it’s not really a solution.”
When Reid refused the offer, Nike’s customer service promised to take her complaint to the “higher-ups”. In the video said she was still waiting for an answer.
Reid said: “Now I love that companies are using amputee mannequins. But if you are going to use the image, you have to back it up in the way that you do business.”
In a statement, Nike thanked Reid for “sharing her concerns”. It pointed out that in the US the company does offer “select inventory of single shoes at our distribution centre in Memphis”. It said it was hoping to expand the programme “to more geographies in the future”.
It added: “At Nike, we stand for all athletes, and sponsor a number of Para athletes and Federations around the world and work with them across all forms of movement.”
Josephine Bridges, founder of charity Positive Bones, also urged Nike to follow up its advertising campaign by offering single shoes to amputees.
Speaking to the BBC News she said: “There are people who have shoe sizes that are slightly different on each foot. And so if we’re able to buy one shoe, there’s a real benefit there.
“Sometimes you have one shoe that wears out much faster than the other. It could mean that people could be less wasteful by getting that one shoe replacement.”
Sophie Kamlish, who is also a British track and field Paralympic athlete, told the BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme: “Nike are using the image of inclusion, which is really cool. You wouldn’t have seen that a few years ago, but they’re not being as helpful when it comes to buying one shoe.”
