• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 17, 2023

It’s been 55 years since U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos took the Olympic medal stand, raising their fists to symbolize racial justice. The move meant incredible sacrifice, as the two were expelled from the team and the Olympic Village. Back home, they faced enormous vilification that has endured for decades.

None of that is lost on Puma, the German athletic brand Smith and Carlos wore to race in those games. Puma’s latest collaboration with Smith is a new ‘Icons of Unity’ collection, with graphic T-shirts, caps and, of course, classic suede shoes. The items highlight Smith's four fundamental messages: Justice, Dignity, Equality, and Peace.

Besides Smith, ambassadors for the new collection include Colin Jackson, former track and field athlete and Olympic silver medalist, and Felix Streng, Paralympic gold and silver medalist and World and European Champion.

The company released a promotional interview with Smith, Jackson and Streng.

In it, Jackson asks Smith about that day in 1968. “A lot of things needed to go right for you to get there. You had to win,” Jackson says. “And there was always an opportunity after your victory to back down. As you were walking towards the rostrum, you could have said, 'I’m not going to be brave enough to do this,’ yet you chose not to.”

“There was a need for me to,” Smith replies. “There was no other way for it to be seen, other than a prayer of hope and belief of justice in a country that didn't have that belief.”

Smith, a sprinter who set a world record in those games and never again competed for the U.S., continues to work as an activist. And many see that moment as the start of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The new collection launches at a bumpy moment for Puma. The company recently warned that due to the strength of the euro, it might miss earnings estimates.

And like such rivals as Nike and Adidas, Puma has seen weaker demand in the U.S. and less-than-robust recovery in China.