B1 Reading: Adidas vs Puma, Two Brothers, Two Brands
Read about Adidas and Puma and fill in the gaps.
Word Bank
Tap a word, then tap a gap. On a computer you can also drag it.
competitors
athlete
rivalry
apart
decided
split
argue
falling
selling
prefer
loyal
famous
In the 1920s, two brothers, Adolf "Adi" and Rudolf Dassler, started a shoe company in their mother's house in Herzogenaurach, a small town in southern Germany. Adi was quiet and loved designing shoes. Rudolf was loud and good at . Together, they were a great team.
Their sports shoes became in 1936, when the American Jesse Owens wore them at the Berlin Olympics and won four gold medals.
But the brothers started to . Nobody knows exactly why. People talk about jealousy, family problems and the war. By 1948, they could not work together any more, so they the company. Adi started Adidas, and Rudolf started the company that became Puma.
The divided the whole town. The two factories were on opposite sides of the river. People were to one company, and they went to different shops, bars and football clubs. Herzogenaurach was called "the town of bent necks", because people looked down at your shoes before they to talk to you.
The brothers never made peace. They died in the 1970s and were buried in the same cemetery, but as far as possible. In 2009, workers from both companies finally played a friendly football match together.
Today, Adidas is much bigger than Puma. In 2026, Puma is going through a difficult time: its sales are , and a Chinese company, Anta, now owns almost a third of it. Interestingly, Puma's boss used to work for Adidas, and Adidas's boss used to run Puma! The two companies are still , and their headquarters are still in the same small town.
Do you Adidas or Puma? Why?
Their sports shoes became in 1936, when the American Jesse Owens wore them at the Berlin Olympics and won four gold medals.
But the brothers started to . Nobody knows exactly why. People talk about jealousy, family problems and the war. By 1948, they could not work together any more, so they the company. Adi started Adidas, and Rudolf started the company that became Puma.
The divided the whole town. The two factories were on opposite sides of the river. People were to one company, and they went to different shops, bars and football clubs. Herzogenaurach was called "the town of bent necks", because people looked down at your shoes before they to talk to you.
The brothers never made peace. They died in the 1970s and were buried in the same cemetery, but as far as possible. In 2009, workers from both companies finally played a friendly football match together.
Today, Adidas is much bigger than Puma. In 2026, Puma is going through a difficult time: its sales are , and a Chinese company, Anta, now owns almost a third of it. Interestingly, Puma's boss used to work for Adidas, and Adidas's boss used to run Puma! The two companies are still , and their headquarters are still in the same small town.
Do you Adidas or Puma? Why?