Karhu

Karhu is a Finnish sports brand and the word Karhu means bear in Finnish. The company was first using as a sporting goods brand in 1916 by the Finnish company Ab Sport Artiklar Oy and is used to market running shoes, spears, discus and skiing.

The first athlete, who won in the brand's shoes was the Finnish Paavo Nurmi. He won a total of nine gold medals at the Olympic Games between 1920 and 1928. The Finnish brand dominates the 1952 Helsinki Olympics with15 gold medal-winning spikes. Karhu’s international reputation for technical expertise establishes the company as the world’s leading manufacturer of athletic shoes. Karhu sells its three stripes trademark to a now well-known athletic shoe company in Herzogenaurach that still uses it to this day. The price? Two bottles of good whiskey and about 1 600 Euro.

Karhu officially registers its famous M-symbol - derived from the word “Mestari,” which means “champion” in Finnish. Karhu Research &Design’s collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä results in the development of the “Fulcrum” technology in 1986. The new technique should help to run more effectively. Now we are even happier to be able to present the Finnish brand at 43einhalb!