Three stripes out of order

A couple of years ago Patrice Dockery won the Adidas women's 10K road race around Dublin and for her efforts was given a pair…

A couple of years ago Patrice Dockery won the Adidas women's 10K road race around Dublin and for her efforts was given a pair of Adidas running shoes. All very good, but Dockery is an Olympic wheelchair athlete and clearly has little need for Adidas running shoes. The whole affair was grossly insensitive and thoughtless, but could have been sorted out with a simple apology from an Adidas official and a more suitable prize.

Subsequently Adidas sent Patrice an e-mail saying that they would get back to her, presumably to rectify the matter and to explain just how it came to pass how someone thought a pair of Adidas running shoes was a suitable prize for a wheelchair athlete.

A few years and an Olympic games later, Dockery is still waiting for Adidas to get back to her about those running shoes. Nice one Addidas.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times