As part of a focused strike team for Nike’s Breaking 2 project an attempt to break the two- hour marathon barrier, I led patterning, prototyping, fittings, and garment engineering for fully bespoke race kits worn by Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese. Working directly with Kipchoge, Desisa and Tadese, I custom-fit each piece and refined construction through multiple iterations.

The kit — singlet, half tights, and arm and leg sleeves — was fully engineered in knit with minimal seams to reduce weight and eliminate distraction. I developed individual patterns for each athlete and strategically integrated vortex generators to reduce wind resistance, validated through wind tunnel and lab testing. The half tight silhouette marked a breakthrough in men’s distance running apparel and has since become a global standard.

Testing spanned Nike’s Sport Research Lab, training camps in Kenya, and race simulations at Monza’s F1 circuit in Italy. Athlete feedback drove seam placement, gusset construction, cooling strategies, and ultralight knit engineering. The resulting system influenced Nike’s racing line for years to follow and marked a defining moment in performance apparel innovation.