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Terrorism

Adidas apologizes for Boston Marathon email gaffe

Brandon Conradis
April 19, 2017

Sportswear giant Adidas is facing backlash over a marketing email it sent to participants in this year's Boston Marathon. The city is still recovering after the 2013 bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds.

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USA Boston Marathon
Image: Reuters/L. Hornak

Social media users expressed their outrage on Tuesday after German sportswear giant Adidas sent an email congratulating the participants who "survived" this year's Boston Marathon.

Four years ago, the event was the target of a deadly bomb attack that killed three people, including a child, and injured several hundred others. More than a dozen of those who survived lost their limbs. The culprits were two brothers of Chechen descent, Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev, who set off the pressure cooker bombs near the race's finish line.

The subject line of the company's email, which was sent to all 26,492 participants who finished the marathon, read: "Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!"

Afterward, Adidas tweeted a message apologizing for the "insensitive email subject line."

Many users on Twitter lambasted the company for the mishap.

At least two survivors of the 2013 attack participated in this year's event, the oldest annual marathon in the world.