Adidas attempts 'Impossible Sprint' with vertical dash

The "sprint" - actually a climb up an estimated 33 stories - coincides with the start of the Athens Olympics. A 100m, eight-lane track has been laid on the side of buildings in Hong Kong and Osaka. Forty sprinters from the climbing community in Greater China will race up a building in Pacific Place in a series of heats, semis and finals over two weekends in Hong Kong this month. The three fastest sprinters will win "substantial prize money".

Christophe Bezu, Adidas Asia-Pacific CEO, said the brand wanted to make the Olympics more relevant to Asia in view of the 2008 Games in Beijing.

TBWA\Japan ECD John Merrifield added: "The glamour event of the Olympics is the 100m sprint. Few people in Asia will see this event live. But Adidas is bringing the 100m to Asia and what better way to also illustrate its 'Impossible is nothing' positioning than the world's first 100m vertical sprint. Hopefully we will create a new sport, and a very extreme one at that, where the women will compete against the men."

Carat and its subsidiary Posterscope handled the media portion of the deals.