From top left, clockwise, members representing Team UAE at the World Transplant Games, Omar “OT” Tom, Katie Larkins, Justin Anthony, Husena Beguwala, Fatima Rashid and Hind Juma.ASICS has sponsored six extraordinary athletes from the UAE who will compete at the World Transplant Games 2025 in Dresden, Germany. The initiative is part of ASICS’ wider sustainability and innovation roadmap, which extends far beyond marketing materials and product design to highlight how the brand empowers communities, champions mental wellbeing and fosters real-world impact through meaningful partnerships.
As the Official Sportswear Sponsor of Team UAE at the World Transplant Games, ASICS highlights how it has long championed sport as a pathway to mental and physical wellbeing, being rooted in the Japanese philosophy Anima Sana In Corpore Sano (“A Sound Mind in a Sound Body”).
Through this latest sponsorship, and the ensuing campaign, ASICS intends to further reinforce the brand’s commitment to inclusive performance, purpose-led innovation and movement as medicine. The initiative aligns closely with ASICS’ global values as a caregiver brand that supports individuals at every stage of their journey through sport.
As part of the campaign, ASICS provided all athletes with apparel and footwear, while also sharing their journeys across its owned social channels.
These stories were then amplified via public relations (PR), reaching audiences across the Middle East region. The brand focused on authenticity and highlighted the athletes’ resilience, ensuring the campaign aligned with its brand ethos, rather than being a purely commercial sponsorship play.
While the campaign is being measured through quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs), this ASICS campaign has primarily been anchored in qualitative impact. Success for the brand will mean amplifying stories that inspire people to move, regardless of the challenges they face.
Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Middle East, told Campaign Middle East, “We have measured effectiveness through PR reach, social media engagement and direct community feedback, all of which have reflected an overwhelmingly positive response. The focus has been on how these narratives spark conversations about perseverance, wellness, and the mental and physical benefits of movement, not just on traditional commercial metrics.”
While ASICS has previously sponsored world-class races and remains deeply embedded within the running community, its purpose goes further.
“This initiative is about celebrating individuals who defy norms and redefine what achievement means. It is not just about competition or medals; it is about enabling everyone to strive for their own personal best, whatever that looks like, every single day. By supporting transplant athletes, we are championing resilience, inclusivity, and the transformative power of movement, values that go far beyond a logo on a jersey,” Djordjevic added.
This initiative also embodies the ASICS philosophy that wellbeing is holistic and is as much mental as it is physical: to be a resilient runner, athlete, or even just someone committed to staying active, the mind and body must work in harmony.
Djordjevic said, “It also complements our broader campaigns in the region and globally, where we focus on the mental health benefits of movement and champion stories that demonstrate the life-changing power of sport beyond the traditional competitive lens.”
Taking place this August, the World Transplant Games bring together transplant recipients and living donors from around the world, and for the first time, the UAE will be represented on that global stage.
Bringing together thousands of transplant recipients, living donors, and their loved ones, the Games spotlight the life-saving impact of organ donation and the extraordinary role movement plays in healing both body and mind. ASICS is championing six inspiring individuals from the UAE, each a powerful testament to resilience, recovery and the unifying force of sport.
The UAE team includes:
- Katie Larkins – Liver transplant recipient and educator leading Team UAE while competing in long-distance races, advocating for organ donation and youth wellness.
- Omar “OT” Tom – Two-time kidney transplant recipient and sprinter using his story to inspire a new generation of transplant athletes.
- Fatima Rashid – Kidney transplant recipient and mental health advocate competing in multiple events to spotlight strength through movement.
- Justin Anthony – Double lung transplant recipient embracing a second chance at life through competitive throwing and bowling events.
- Husena Beguwala – Filmmaker and lung transplant survivor running to raise awareness for rare diseases and the power of organ donation.
- Hind Juma – Hind Juma – Living kidney donor whose journey of love, resilience, and perseverance led to saving her mother’s life; now back on track and proudly representing the UAE at the World Transplant Games.
By backing Team UAE, ASICS aims to inspire individuals across the region to move for their minds, bodies, and communities, while honoring those who prove that every step forward is a triumph of purpose, resilience and heart.
