In the video below, Yao talks about his once in a lifetime chance to play in the Olympics on his home soil and the pressure he feels. He also talks about the value of his Olympic opponents, and how difficult it will be for China to secure a place in the finals.

He also explains the design and inspiration behind his newest basketball shoe from Reebok, the Pump Omni Hexride. The shoe was created in celebration of the Olympics and includes some personal touches, such as his own signature logo.

Only 2,008 individually numbered pairs of the exclusive Pump Omni Hexride will be available starting today for all of China. In addition, coming soon, select retailers in the US and in Europe will carry the Pump Omni Hexride, however the collection will not be numbered in these markets.

Five of these Reebok shoes will be auctioned off to raise funds for Yao’s newly established Yao Ming Foundation, which Reebok has committed to support. In this footage, Yao’s welcome back to China and his new foundation is featured as he prepares for the upcoming Olympic games.

Pictures of the shoe are available on this Flickr page. For more information visit Reebok’s site.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 10:14 am and is filed under *Interviews with Yao, 2008 Beijing Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.