The Story Behind All Those Neon Green Nikes

By Catherine Blair Pfander, NBC Bay Area

Credit: Nike

The Story Behind All Those Neon Green Nikes

August 8, 2012 Updated Aug 8, 2012 at 3:32 PM PDT

Eyes are glued to the track this week as Olympic runners like Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross and Tyler Gay push to the finish line. But it's not just the heart-thumping heats that have captured our attention. Who can ignore that fluorescent footwear?

The technical name for the neon shade of green being seared into your retinas is "Volt," and it's the uniform shade Nike is using for its track and field shoes at the London 2012 Games.

Because they're impossible to miss on the ruddy red track, the fluorescent Volt kicks—which come in a variety of editions specific to sprinting, distance, field and marathon performance—are quite literally the most brilliant, if somewhat unsubtle, nugget of branding to emerge at the Summer Games.

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