Seb Coe Appointed Nike International Advisor

Sebastian Coe is set to take on a wide-ranging advisor role for Nike, including acting as an international ambassador for ‘Designed To Move’, a major global initiative to tackle global inactivity.

‘Designed To Move’ is spearheaded by Nike in partnership with more than 70 other organizations, unveiled in September 2012 with a report that revealed the serious issue of physical inactivity threatening the social and economic prosperity of the world. 

Co-authored by Nike, The American College of Sports Medicine, The International Council of Science & Physical Education, and endorsed by several other expert organisations, the report consolidates the evidence for urgent action and lays out a clear agenda to solve the mounting inactivity crisis.

The report claims that children face a shorter life expectancy than their parents because movement has been engineered out of daily life. If nothing happens to change this, half of the Chinese and American populations and one-third of the British and Brazilian populations — around 1 billion people –will be physically inactive by 2030.

Nike’s goal is to collaborate with other companies to push physical activity, play and sports as part of everyday life. 

Speaking on the new partnership, Coe said: ‘I’m looking forward to being part of the Nike team and working with them in this new role and playing a part in addressing the need for the next generations to become more active.’ 

Coe was a Nike-sponsored athlete during his running career, and his 1500m victory at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 was one of the first OIympic Gold medals won in Nike shoes, and remained an ambassador for the brand following his retirement as a competitive athlete.

Mark Parker, Nike Inc. President & CEO, added: ‘Seb’s determination, his will to win and his phenomenal performances as an athlete have always inspired us at Nike. We recognize the significance of his vast experience and commitment to sports as both an athlete and administrator and we’re looking forward to working closely with him in his new role with us.’

After successfully delivering the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Lord Coe was elected chairman of the British Olympic Association and has been tasked with trying to help Team GB build towards Rio in 2016.