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ASICS Ltd.

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Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 7936
Industry	Sportswear Sports Equipment
Founded	1949
Founder(s)	Kihachiro Onitsuka
Headquarters	Kobe, Japan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Kiyomi Wada (Chairman) Motoi Oyama (President)
Products	Athletic shoes Apparel Sports equipment
Revenue	¥ 224.4 Billion (As of March 31, 2010)
Operating income	¥ 17.6 Billion (As of March 31, 2010)
Net income	¥ 8.3 Billion (As of March 31, 2010)
Employees	ca. 5350[1]
Subsidiaries	Haglöfs ASICS Europe B.V. ASICS Sports Corporation ASICS Tiger Corporation ASICS Tiger do Brasil Ltda. ASICS Tiger Oceana Pty.
Website	www.asics.com

ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other sport disciplines. In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market.^[2][3][4] ASICS bought the outdoor brand Haglöfs on July 12, 2010 for SEK1,000,000,000 ($128.7 million).^[5]

History[link]

ASICS Ltd. began as Panmure Co., Ltd on September 1, 1949.^[6] Its founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, began manufacturing basketball shoes in his home town of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Soon after the range of sports activities widened to a variety of Olympic styles used throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly renowned for the Mexico 66^[7] design, in which the distinctive crossed stripes, now synonymous with the company brand, were featured for the first time. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of ASICS shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.

The name of the company, "ASICS", is an acronym of the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates to "Healthy Soul in a Healthy Body",^[8] which derives from the aphorism mens sana in corpore sano or Thales' saying Νοῦς ὑγιὴς ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ.. Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym, and its translation has been truncated for advertising purposes to "Sound Mind, Sound Body".

In its 2006 fiscal year, ASICS generated 171 billion yen in net sales and 13 billion yen in net income. Sixty-six percent of the company's income comes from the sale of sports shoes, 24 percent from sportswear, and 10 percent from sports equipment. Forty-nine percent of the company's sales are in Japan, 28 percent in North America, and 19 percent in Europe.

On 4 October 2011 it was announced that ASICS will be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australian Cricket Team replacing German manufacturer Adidas.

Sponsorship[link]

Gallery[link]

• 

  A pair of ASICS wrestling shoes, model Split Second V

• Kinsei.jpg

  A pair of ASICS running shoes, model GEL-Kinsei

See also[link]

• List of ASICS sponsorships
• List of swimwear brands

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ASICS

• ASICS Worldwide

Helen Jenkins

Helen Jenkins at the 2010 World Championships Series event in Kitzbühel
Personal information
Born	(1984-03-08) 8 March 1984 (age 28) Elgin, Moray, Scotland
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	Wales
Club	Giant Racing
Team	Corus Triathlon
Coached by	Rick Velati Marc Jenkins
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain Women's Triathlon ITU World Championships Gold 2008 Vancouver Elite Gold 2011 Beijing Elite Gold 2011 Lausanne Team

Helen Jenkins, silver medalist at the World Championship triathlon in Kitzbuhel, 2011.

Helen Jenkins a few seconds before the start in Kitzbuhel, 2011.

Helen Jenkins on her way to the bronze medal at the World Championship Series Triathlon in Madrid, 2010.

Only the motorbike could follow Helen Jenkins in Lausanne, 2011.

Helen Rebecca Jenkins, née Tucker (born 8 March 1984 in Elgin, Moray, Scotland), is a British professional triathlete and the 2008 and 2011 ITU World Champion. As a professional she has represented Great Britain at the Olympics and Wales in the Commonwealth Games. In 2009 she placed third at the Grand Final of the World Championship Series in Gold Coast, in 2011 she is number one in the World Championship Series (August 2011). After winning the London World Championship Series on 6 August 2011 she secured a place on the Great Britain team for the London Olympics 2012.

Jenkins was the British Junior Champion of the year 2003 and the Elite Champion of the year 2006, after having been the elite silver medalist of the year 2005. Jenkins also participated in several prestigious non ITU events, in 2009 for instance she won the London Triathlon, which she had already attended in the years 2003, 2004, and 2005, placing 7th, 5th, and 5th respectively.

In 2006 she suffered from an Achilles tendon injury and after a new start in 2007 the ankle injury gave her trouble again. Nevertheless, in 2008 she won the World Championships in Vancouver and placed 21st at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Jenkins lives in Bridgend, Wales, and on 30 October 2008 she married her friend and coach Marc Jenkins at Disney World in Orlando.^[1]

ITU Competitions[link]

In the nine years from 2002 to 2010, Helen Jenkins took part in 42 ITU competitions and achieved 28 top ten positions, among which 14 medals.

The following list is based upon the official ITU rankings and the Athlete's Profile Page.^[2] Unless indicated otherwise, the following events are triathlons and belong to the Elite category.

BG = the sponsor British Gas · DNF = did not finish · DNS = did not start

Notes[link]

1. ^ Cf. marriage photograph: http://www.tri247.com/article_4284.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
2. ^ See http://archive.triathlon.org/zpg/zresults-ath-dtl.php?id=MzA0. Retrieved 22 August 2011.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Helen Jenkins

• Official website

Jan Frodeno

Jan Frodeno at the 2006 German Championship in Schliersee.
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Frodo[1]
Born	(1981-08-18) 18 August 1981 (age 30) Cologne, Germany
Residence	Saarbrücken[2]
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Other interests	Beach Volleyball, Surfing, Cooking[1]
Sport
Country	Germany
Club	Tri-Sport Saar-Hochwald e. V.
Coached by	Wolfgang Thiel
Medal record Men's triathlon Competitor for  Germany Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Men's race

Jan Frodeno (born 18 August 1981) is a German triathlete. He won gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Born in Cologne, Frodeno started out as a swimmer in South Africa at the age of 15, and he entered triathlon in 2000.^[3] He then went to Germany to compete in the Bundesliga, and qualified for the national team in 2002.^[3] He currently trains at the Olympic Training Centre in Saarbrücken.^[1] Before his Olympic victory, his best result was placing sixth in the 2007 World Championships,^[2] and winning the German Championship the same year.^[4] He had previously also placed second and third in various races of the World Cup from 2005 to 2008.^[2]

His gold medal win at the 2008 Summer Olympics was a surprise.^[5] He beat the 2000 Olympic champion Simon Whitfield in a sprint finish, while the hot pre-race favorite and 2008 World Champion Javier Gómez finished in fourth place.^[5] The victory came the day after his twenty-seventh birthday.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official home page
• [1]
• [2]

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