The Supernova Rise 3 Adaptive: Creating a Performance Shoe for People with Disabilities

Since 2022, adidas has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon. And as part of this partnership, we provide Chris with training and competition shoes featuring personalized adaptive adjustments to meet his specific physical needs.

With this as a foundation, Chris’s team – together with TBWA Canada, a creative agency driven by the desire to push innovative results – pitched the idea of sharing these solutions more broadly. The goal? To provide a product that would break down barriers and increase accessibility to sports for people with disabilities.

The project officially kicked off in April 2024 with Chris’s first visit to adidas’s global headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, ahead of his participation in the Ironman Challenge Roth. So how did that go? We asked Product Manager Sophie El-Masry, Product Developer Malte Diekaemper, and Footwear Designer Marc Schmitz.

WHERE DID THE IDEA OF CREATING AN ADAPTIVE SHOE COME FROM, AND WHO CAME TOGETHER TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?

Sophie: “TBWA first raised awareness around the need for well-fitting footwear for the Down syndrome community – an organization with a long history of working with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and are champions for that community. At the same time, Chris Nikic and the adidas team in North America identified the gap in the market for a truly adaptive performance product.

“To authentically target this gap – and to see how we could go beyond just the Down syndrome community – we also partnered with GAMUT Management, who helped to build a range of diverse focus groups with representation across age, gender, and multiple types of disabilities.

“GAMUT brought years of experience in the adaptive product space, ensuring that people with disabilities are authentically incorporated into the creation process and represented in any marketing materials with the final product.

“Their collaboration was critical in including a diverse set of people with disabilities into our focus groups, which highlighted the variety of needs existing across the community. But their contribution wasn’t just limited to product-related capabilities, they also conducted a disability education session for the team working on the project and facilitated all focus sessions to ensure consistency in moderation and quality of content.

“On the adidas side, Malte was brought on as the developer due to his rich experience in building complex products and Marc was brought in to bring a fresh and innovative design perspective to the project. I served as the product manager, clarifying the direct product requirements and coordinating across all stakeholders.”

HOW DID THIS PROJECT DIFFER TO MORE CONVENTIONAL ONES?

Malte: “Usually when we kick off the product creation process, we start with a very clear idea of what we are trying to build. Everything from foam type shapes and materials are already identified.

“But in this case, Sophie presented a blank canvas – no specific features were outlined, but what we did have was an action plan to gather the insights we needed to identify which solutions might be helpful.”

Sophie: “Absolutely. For the first time in my career, I presented a brief that said, ‘I don't know.’ I don't know what we should use and I don’t know what we need, because I don't yet know what the community needs.

“So, before we even picked up our pencils, we knew we had a lot to learn. We needed to learn from people with cerebral palsy, upper and lower limb prosthetics, Down syndrome, and visual impairments, and so first we listened. We listened to their experiences, their lives, their challenges, their love of sport, before getting into details of what made shoes in particular a pain point and the impact that a better fitting pair could have on their lives."

Marc: “Early on in the process we asked them to send us videos of how they put on their shoes, and it was fascinating to see just how differently everyone did that. This was just one of the critical factors I had to account for as I was designing. How can I cater to the needs of one group without excluding the needs of another?"

Sophie: “Then, after landing on an initial design, we went through two rounds of testing with physical samples. The first round we sent samples out to participants and then gathered input during long zoom sessions. We listened to what was working and what wasn’t and made changes to create the next sample round for testing.

“For the second round of product testing, we were fortunate to be able to travel physically to Orlando, Florida and test with some participants in-person, which was amazing to be able to directly see how people interacted with the product. To experience their reactions to seeing a shoe built for them, made it a very emotional trip for us all.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM A DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE COMPARED TO THE CREATION OF A TRADITIONAL RUNNING SHOE?

Malte: “For me, it was about rethinking the way we usually build shoes, taking a step back, and reviewing the whole system of a shoe – starting with why we use certain materials and elements in specific places, or how we can minimize anything that could disturb the user and make it easier for them to step into the shoe.  

“We explored processes and engineering solutions that would meet the specific needs of these athletes, challenging more traditional shoe-construction methods. While we are experts in shoe-building, we did face a very new set of challenges along the way."

Marc: “It was a unique experience to erase everything we knew and start the process from scratch to get the best options for every feature and ask.

"This is something to really keep doing in our day-to-day process, on any project, to try to push the product as far as we can and keep that approach of requestioning even the most settled aspect of the products.

“What made it all the more interesting is that we had to work around certain legal restrictions, in a very patent filled space.”

TELL US ABOUT THE END RESULTS…

Malte: “The Supernova Rise 3 Adaptive features a comfort-first, reformulated version of the foam used in the Supernova Rise 3 (and 20% softer than that in the Supernova Rise 2).

“The outsole provides grip adaptive athletes can trust, a low-pressure lacing system reduces pressure and irritation, heel and tongue loops have a magnetic toggle which is designed to support easier entry, grip and adjustability.

"The fit of the standard Supernova Rise 3 was updated to provide more space in the forefoot, allowing toes to spread naturally and tactile elements for athletes with visual or sensory needs also feature. Finally, we introduced a stiffened, easy step-in heel engineered to withstand step-down forces for those who rely on hands-free or limited-mobility entry techniques.

“Everything I learned from this project is something I apply when working on other running shoes. I’m now better placed to challenge traditional construction methods, and I now have a deeper understanding on the impact of the smallest things that are inside and outside of a shoe.”

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF ADAPTIVE FOOTWEAR HEADING?

Sophie: "It has been amazing to see the reaction from the community to the product launch – seeing a big brand invest in hearing directly from the community, and our efforts to authentically build something collaboratively has been really appreciated.

"And from a product side, I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that as product people, we are never done! We are always looking for ways to keep pushing and improving so I don’t think this will be the last you see of adaptive running product!"

CELEBRATED SUCCESS

The project has received positive acclaim since the product launch in March 2026, most notably at the Cannes Lions 2026, where the creative and marketing community comes together to recognize the most impactful and game changing work from brands all over the world. The team successfully took a Grand Prix in the Innovation Lions category, Gold in both Health & Wellness and Design, and Silver in the Entertainment Lions for Sport category.