A visitor to Nike’s Instagram lately might be forgiven for thinking the global giant was focused exclusively on great women athletes. Sure, Michael Jordan and LeBron James come quickly to mind for many Nike fans, but those superstars are not the faces one encounters on Nike’s channel at the internet’s most visual photo-heavy platform.
Nope, front and center at Nike’s Instagram is the inimitable Serena Williams, coming off at stirring run at what may be her final US Open competition. Or maybe you see the amazing Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican sprinter — a mother like Serena — who is again (astoundingly) at the top end of her sport at the age of 35.
As Nike proudly proclaims: “Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce isn’t just one of the greatest athletes the track has ever seen, she’s a beacon. A confirmation for people all over the world that they can become the diamond they’re meant to be, no matter where they come from.”
A couple of WNBA stars are also prominently featured — the dynamic Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty…
And Jewell Lloyd who “eight years into an already illustrious WNBA career is just now starting to use visualization as a means to master her craft on the court to help manifest a greater world for the person she is off of it.” Powerful, inspiring stuff — all in a notable No Man’s Land at the Nike gram.
And UNWNT soccer star (and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner) Megan Rapinoe doing things her way in her style, with Nike at her back.
Plus: the 800-meter specialist Raevyn Rogers is on Nike’s mind too, with another entry into the inspiring “What Are You Working On?” series.
It’s not like Nike has forgotten about James and Jordan, it’s just that…the playing field is thankfully a lot more even these days. You have to scroll the Nike account quite a ways down before you encounter a man, the amazing sprinter Marcell Jacobs.
But even then Jacobs is popped in there among even more great female athletes from all over the world, like Emma Raducanu or Asisat Oshoala (below). A visit to the well-curated Nike Instagram is a must right now for any young female athlete in your family.
