Phil Knight, the billionaire founder of Nike, made his World Cup dream come true in Eugene

When you appear in the magazine Forbes in position 28 of the list of the richest people in the world with a fortune of 41 billion dollars and you have so much money that you can’t finish, what dreams do you have left to fulfill? good at Phil Knight, founder of Nike, he has something left and he made it a reality this week. At 84 years old, the North American businessman has a pending account and does not want to leave this world unpaid. “Nothing Bill Bowerman I wouldn’t be in this business, Nike wouldn’t exist, I wouldn’t have married my wife, I wouldn’t have children, or grandchildren. It will be something completely different. This World Cup celebration in Eugene, a small city in the state of Oregon, is the ultimate tribute to Bowerman, because without him, nothing would happen”, he assured.to Knight refers to his athletic trainer when he was a student at University of Oregon and that was the key to creating a sports multinational.

Went to Phil Knight Hayward Field the ten days that the World Cup lasted. He was always dressed in strict black, from top to bottom. Without frills or stridencies. In his clothes there is no trace of fame Nike Swoosh. His place on the track is in a private box called ‘Portland’, his hometown. In this enclosure, located just in front of the goal, there is a terrace with 16 seats, all black -the only one with this color in the whole stadium-. Inside, there is a small bar with a counter to serve drinks and food. Knight He invited his close friends to enjoy the show and he was attentive and very excited about all the tests, but especially the backgrounds, his favorites. On the last day, when the competition was over, he wanted to stay longer in his seat. He was left alone, thoughtfully observing the track and in pensive mode.

Knight and Bowerman they met in Hayward Fieldthe track that hosts the Oregon World Cup 2022 and the same setting in which Nike was created in 1964 -originally under the name of Blue Ribbon Sports-. Property Knight published in 2016 his autobiography titled ‘Shoe Dog’ in which he recounts his memories of this period. “My dream has always been to be an elite athlete,” he said in 1957, when he was competing in ‘ducks’ represent your university. Remember how special it is to compete Hayward Field and the noise of the public that filled the stands and the famous grandstand ‘Grandstand‘. And every time he returns to the track, he makes sure he remembers that scream in his ears. That track, built in 1919, was completely disused to host the World Cup and when the USATF -Nike is its main sponsor with 17 million annually- presented a candidacy to organize the event, Knight promised to release money from his pocket to build a stadium in the conditions.

“I want the best athletes in the world to come to Hayward Field and be as in love with this track as I am,” he said. According to a report from ‘The Wall Street Journal’, The North American businessman has invested more than 1,000 million dollars in the University of Oregon, but of all his donations, the project he is most passionate about is the renovation of Hayward Field (270 million). His initiative was strongly rejected by dozens of former athletes and romantics of the track, because it involved the destruction of the historic ‘Grandstand’. But he pursued his idea with tenacity, courage and unleashed his vision and creativity, just as he did during his time when Nike was founded. The result is a spectacular, state-of-the-art stadium, with a lot of personality and respecting the essence of athletics and with memories of Knight. And watching everything happen on the track with a life-size sculpture Bill Bowerman. The man who took sneakers of different brands from his athletes – in his opinion, improvable – and molded them to his liking in his waffle maker.