Sportswear brand Asics has committed to protecting the mental wellbeing of its athletes with a new initiative designed to tackle the scourge of online harassment.
Developed in partnership with data science company Signify, the Japanese firm’s athletes will be offered tailored cybersecurity services to minimise their exposure to abusive online material during major events, with the issue appearing to worsen year-on-year.
The initiative forms part of the brand’s wider ‘Mind and Body Athlete Support Programme’ which offers sponsored Asics athletes access to a suite of services to support their physical and mental wellbeing.
“At Asics, our five letters have meaning,” Asics global head of sports marketing, Olivier Mignon said. “Asics is an acronym from the Latin phrase Anima Sana In Corpore Sano or ‘a Sound Mind in a Sound Body’ which is why caring for the wellbeing of athletes has always been at our core.”
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“While we’re proud to support athletes to win and break records, we don’t believe in winning at all costs. The physical and mental wellbeing of athletes is more important than any podium place.”
He continued: “Our aim is to support athletes to reach their performance goals without compromising their wellbeing. We are acutely aware of the negative impact of online harassment and cyberbullying on mental health, and so are keen to help protect our athletes from online abuse.”
Each athlete will be given the protection provided by Signify’s AI-driven ‘Threat Matrix’, which helps prevent and manage social media abuse by placing a ‘shield’ of sorts around athletes. This enables them to engage with their audiences safely.
Signify CEO, Jonathan Hirshler added: “Signify is delighted to be supporting Asics and its athlete family in this way. The brand values of Asics and its commitment to protecting the overall wellbeing of athletes chimes closely with our own mission and what we set out to achieve with Threat Matrix.”
