The campaign was created by Adidas' global advertising agency 180/TBWA, the alliance between independent agency 180 Amsterdam and TBWA\, and will run in more than 50 markets this month with three 30-second TV and cinema spots.
The creative focuses on Olympians who refuse to accept the limits set by others. As with the original "Impossible is Nothing" campaign, which featured Muhammad Ali and David Beckham, there is a theme of past and present in the ads, merging old and new footage.
In "Haile", arguably the greatest runner of all time, Haile Gebrselassie, takes on the challenge of beating his own fastest times, racing nine versions of himself to represent the nine times he has beaten his own world record.
In "Jesse", the current 100m champion, Kim Collins, encounters the 1936 four-time Olympic Gold medal-winner, Jesse Owens, on the track, while "Nadia" focuses on 13-year-old gymnast Nastia Liukin following the path of the legendary Nadia Comaneci, the first gymnast to score a perfect 10.
The spots are supported by an outdoor campaign produced by TBWA\Chiat Day San Francisco. A stable of past and present athletes such as Justine Henin-Hardenne, Ian Thorpe, Kim Collins, Muhammad Ali and Jesse Owens feature with the strapline "Impossible is Nothing". Additional one-liners will be posted around the Olympic stadium in Athens, such as "Impossible is a Dare" and "Impossible is an Opinion".
The campaign also has an online element at , where 20 Adidas athletes tell their "Impossible is Nothing" story.
The three spots were conceived by the creative team of 180 Amsterdam's Richard Bullock and Dean Maryon. They were directed by Lance Acord, commercial director at New York-based Park Pictures, who has worked as director of photography on films such as 'Adaption', 'Lost in Translation' and 'Being John Malkovitch'.
Bullock said: "What else could better exemplify the notion of 'Impossible is nothing' than the achievements of Olympians? This second burst of the campaign is a tribute to all those people who turn up every four years and refuse to accept the limits set by others."
The "Impossible is Nothing" slogan was introduced in an advertising campaign last year, which used CGI to show sporting stars from today, including David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, jogging with a young Muhammad Ali, using footage from the documentary 'When We Were Kings'.
The ad was one of thee Adidas spots awarded gold Lions at this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival.
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