Running, football, now tennis: CLIMACOOL is turning up everywhere. adidas has extended its cooling platform to the US Open, the latest stop in a rollout that has touched three sports in 2026 and marks 25 years since the technology first appeared in running footwear.
At this year’s US Open, adidas athletes are stepping onto the court with a new addition to their kit: a frozen cooling vest and neck pieces designed to reduce body temperature between changeovers. Built around the brand’s CLIMACOOL SYSTEM, the technology arrives less than three months after adidas introduced the same platform to teams at the FIFA World Cup and extends a cooling initiative that has already reached running and tennis apparel this year.
The vest, worn over a player’s existing kit, contains a gel frozen in portable freezer units before matches. As it melts courtside, the gel draws heat from the torso, abdomen and back. adidas said testing in its Innovation Lab found a noticeable cooling effect within three minutes, with 10 to 15 minutes of use providing relief lasting up to an hour.
Tennis-specific adaptations include a front-center zip for fast application between points and side adjustability to maximize skin contact during short breaks.
CLIMACOOL moves from product to platform
The US Open rollout follows a direction already underway. CLIMACOOL, now 25 years old, started as a breathability technology in running footwear. adidas marked that anniversary in April with a Shanghai event, at which the company presented CLIMACOOL as a wider innovation platform spanning apparel, footwear and athlete cooling systems.
Since then, adidas has introduced a CLIMACOOL+ singlet for elite marathon runners, unveiled a three-piece cooling system for football at the FIFA World Cup and launched CLIMACOOL+ tennis apparel ahead of the grass-court season. The US Open activation adds a hardware component to tennis, making it the most complete CLIMACOOL deployment the company has shown so far.
adidas is steadily extending the same thermal-management concept across multiple sports. The common thread is not the sport itself but the performance challenge: helping athletes manage heat before, during and after competition.
The remaining question is commercialization. For now, most CLIMACOOL initiatives remain concentrated in elite sport. The cooling vest, jacket and overshoes have been deployed with professional athletes, while consumers have so far seen selected apparel launches and limited-edition collaborations. adidas has yet to announce a commercial version of the cooling hardware, meaning the company’s ability to translate the technology from athlete support tool to consumer product remains unproven.
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