Weldon Kirui Wins the 2018 Skechers Performance™ Los Angeles Marathon®
Skechers Performance™ Elite Athlete Celebrates Second Victory at the Event in only Three Years
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Skechers Performance™, a division of SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), celebrates the victory of its own elite athlete, Weldon Kirui, who won the 2018 Skechers Performance™ Los Angeles Marathon® on Sunday, March 18th. Weldon Kirui, of Kenya, won the men’s elite field in a time of 2:11:47. Weldon’s first place win is his fourth career marathon title and marks the second time in three years that he has won the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, beating his previous time of 2:13:06.
Skechers Performance elite athlete, Weldon Kirui, wins the 2018 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon. (Photo: Business Wire)
“SKECHERS could not be more proud of Weldon and what he has accomplished as a Skechers Performance™ elite athlete – achieving two Los Angeles Marathon® victories in the past three years,” said David Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer of Skechers and presenter of the championship trophy during Sunday’s race. “Wrapping up our third year as title sponsor of the Skechers Performance™ Los Angeles Marathon® on a high note with Weldon’s victory is truly memorable.”
“Winning in Los Angeles for the second time was an amazing experience from start to end,” said Weldon Kirui. “I felt really good the entire course and then after that left turn onto Ocean Avenue, I was finally filled with confidence that it was going to happen. And it was extra special to have the support of the entire Skechers Performance team on my side.”
Weldon Kirui joined the Skechers Performance roster of elite athletes in 2016 and competed in Sunday’s race wearing the Skechers GOmeb Speed 5. Skechers Performance elite athletes Jane Kibii and Heather Lieberg also ran the iconic ‘stadium to the sea’ course as part of the elite women’s field.
Olympic medalist and Skechers Performance elite athlete Meb Keflezighi and Mr. Weinberg held the finish tape as Weldon Kirui won the men’s division. Meb Keflezighi retired from competitive marathon racing at the end of 2017, after an illustrious career highlighted by four Olympic appearances including a silver medal in 2004, as well as wins at both the New York City and Boston Marathons.
Since the launch of the Skechers Performance™ division in 2011, Skechers Performance™ footwear and apparel has earned respect throughout the running world and won numerous awards within the footwear industry for its GOrun® collection. For updates on the collection, visit GOSkechers.com and follow @SkechersPerformance on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Skechers GOrun® collection is available at Skechers retail stores and skechers.com as well as select retail partners including run specialty stores.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 160 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 2,570 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit skechers.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Kelly O’Rourke, 310-424-8366
kellyor@skechers.com
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Mar 20, 2018 • 3:40 pm EDT