Jesse Owens vaulted a shoe company to international renown when he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936. In 1948 that company was split along familial lines, what two competitive companies emerged?

serpa

Adidas and Puma. Herzogenaurach, the Dasslers' home town in Bavaria, has a long tradition as a center for shoemaking. In 1922, for example, it boasted 112 shoemakers drawn from a population of 3,500. It was here, in 1924, that Adolf and Rudolf Dassler founded the "Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory" to specialize in athletic shoes. During the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a German sprinter wearing Dassler spikes took the bronze medal. But it was the legendary shoes of Owens that established the Dasslers' worldwide reputation and laid the foundation for two exceptional careers. After the war, Adi and Rudolf went their separate ways. Each would build up one of West Germany's showpiece sports companies -- one Adidas, the other Puma. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-611400.html Oct 30 09, 9:08 PM