LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 30, 2026--
Harry Kane capped off a career-defining season with the ultimate validation of football greatness—winning the Ballon d’Or on Monday, October 26. Skechers celebrates his historic achievement by dropping 73 pairs of a limited-edition SKX_2 Elite “Mark of Greatness” boot representing each of his 73 goals over 65 appearances with Bayern Munich and England. The boots, available for purchase today, are inspired by the one-of-one SKX_2 Elite boot that Skechers customized with real 24-karat gold leaf for Harry. The definitive choice for the 2025/2026 Ballon d’Or award, he also earned Striker of the Year at the ceremony, and earlier this year, received his second European Golden Shoe and set the all-time record for goals scored by a player for England at the World Cup.
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“Winning the Ballon d’Or after such a memorable year of goals, trophies and special milestones was an incredible honour, and to receive this award in my hometown made it even more special. The Ballon d’Or belongs just as much to my teammates and staff at Bayern and England, my family and friends, and all the fans around the world,” said Harry Kane, who will wear the SKX_2 Elite “Mark of Greatness” boot on the pitch when Bayern faces Dortmund on Saturday. “Having Skechers design a bespoke boot to mark this achievement makes it even more special. I’m looking forward to wearing them on the pitch.”
Each of the 73 limited-edition “Mark of Greatness” boots features Harry Kane’s signature, gold-color detailing on the Skechers “S” logo as well as a gold-color soleplate. The pairs are packaged with a commemorative book—a chronicle of Harry’s historic achievement through the lens of Skechers. Covering the 73 goals that defined his incredible 2025-26 season, the book highlights the boots worn throughout his journey, giving fans the chance to relive the moments of brilliance forged into football history.
Skechers also recognized the career milestone by collaborating with British jeweler Deakin & Francis to create a bespoke gold signet ring embossed with Harry’s “Mark of Greatness” and presented it to the superstar footballer. The ring features a lion holding a key with the number 73 and HK initials in commemoration of his remarkable 2025/26 campaign, as seen in the hero film.
“For Skechers, this is more than celebrating an award; it’s recognizing everything about Harry that made this possible: consistency, excellence, leadership, influence and the ability to deliver when it matters most,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “Harry’s win is the latest illustration that Skechers offers the comfort and performance that elite athletes require at the absolute peak of their game. When the world’s greatest wears Skechers, it’s all the evidence athletes at any level need to know that our footwear will deliver wherever and however they play.”
The SKX_2 Elite is engineered for players who demand more from every touch, strike and movement. It combines a precision-fit custom last, an adaptive Skechers Performance Fitknit ® upper, responsive Hyper Burst Pro ® cushioning and multi-directional traction to deliver exceptional control, speed and confidence on the pitch.
The limited-edition drop of 73 SKX_2 Elite “Mark of Greatness” boots is available exclusively at four Skechers Football retail partners: 11TeamSports, Pro:Direct, Soccer.com, and Unisport.
Beyond this exclusive release, Skechers Football offers a wide range of styles with options for every type of player on any surface. Additional styles in the collection are available at select Skechers stores, skechers.com, as well as specialty retailers. Global football fans can get behind-the-scenes access to Skechers Football product launches and more by following @skechersfootball on Instagram and TikTok.
About Skechers U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers, Where Comfort is a Technology™, is based in Southern California and designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. Skechers collections are available in approximately 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through skechers.com and more than 5,300 Skechers retail stores. A Fortune 500 ® company, Skechers manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
A golden occasion that deserves a golden gift – the bespoke gold signet ring sits atop Skechers limited-edition “Mark of Greatness” boot.
The world’s greatest wears Skechers. Ballon d’Or winner, Harry Kane holds the limited-edition “Mark of Greatness” boot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Michigan are deciding a long list of contests that could swing the balance of power in Washington as well as in the state capitol in Lansing.
Michigan continues to be one of the nation’s most competitive electoral battlegrounds, with fiercely contested Senate and House seats at stake as well as the governor's office and the state Legislature.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers hope to succeed outgoing Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is retiring after two terms. Their race has attracted national attention, including from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and former President Barack Obama, who each stumped for their candidates in the campaign’s final days.
El-Sayed, a former Detroit public health official, has tried to portray Rogers, a former congressman, as a rubber stamp for Trump. Rogers meanwhile has said El-Sayed is too extreme for the state.
El-Sayed’s primary win over Rep. Haley Stevens in August gave progressives their highest profile victory in a year when members of the party’s left flank ousted incumbents and establishment favorites from New York to Colorado. Almost all of those wins were for safe Democratic seats — not so much in Michigan.
Rogers was unopposed for the Republican nomination. He ran for the state’s other Senate seat in 2024 but narrowly lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to retake the chamber. They have waged stronger-than-expected challenges in heavily Republican states once considered beyond their reach, such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Texas. But Republicans hope flipping the Michigan seat will help block Democrats’ path to a majority.
In the race for governor, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican Rep. John James are the major-party nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
A handful of Michigan congressional districts could decide control of the narrowly divided House. In the Kalamazoo-based 4th Congressional District in southwestern Michigan, eight-term Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga faces a strong challenge from Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann. In the 7th District, which includes Lansing, freshman Republican Rep. Tom Barrett seeks a second term against Democrat William Lawrence, a community organizer. In the open-seat race to replace James in the 10th Congressional District, the five-candidate field includes Republican Mike Bouchard and Democrat Christina Hines.
In the state Legislature, all state Senate and state House seats are up for election in 2026. Democrats are defending a narrow state Senate majority, while Republicans are defending a narrow state House majority.
The state’s six most populous counties – Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw – are all key counties to watch.
The largest is Wayne County, home to Detroit and a major source of Democratic votes in statewide elections. It has the state’s highest share of Black residents, at about 37%, according to the U.S. Census. About 8% of Wayne County residents are of Arabic, Middle Eastern or North African descent, the highest share of any county in the nation. If elected, El-Sayed would become the Senate’s first Muslim member.
Washtenaw County, home of the college town of Ann Arbor where El-Sayed lives and has taught, is another Democratic stronghold. Genesee County, which includes Flint, hasn’t voted Republican in a presidential election since 1984, although Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris outperformed Trump there in 2024 by only about 4 percentage points.
Oakland and Macomb counties in the Detroit suburbs and Grand Rapids-based Kent County are key state battlegrounds in both primaries and general elections.
Another notable county is Saginaw in central Michigan, the only county to back the statewide winner in nine consecutive presidential elections, from 1992 to 2024. Trump carried Saginaw County by slim margins in 2016 and 2024, while Democrat Joe Biden won in 2020. In 2024, Saginaw was the only Michigan county that chose Trump for president and Slotkin for Senate.
Republicans tend to dominate in the smaller and more rural counties in the Upper Peninsula and Up North.
A 2023 law gave local elections officials more time to process and tabulate absentee mail ballots than they had in 2020, when a massive amount of mail ballots coupled with more restrictive ballot processing laws slowed the vote count.
Now, cities and towns with at least 5,000 people may begin processing and tabulating ballots up to eight days before Election Day, while smaller jurisdictions may begin the morning before Election Day.
In 2020 under the old law, Trump had a sizable lead early in the night, but it steadily eroded as more mail votes were processed and tabulated until Biden took the lead the following day. He went on to win the state and the presidency.
In 2024 under the new law, Harris began the night with the lead, but Trump surpassed her as more Election Day ballots were counted. He led the vote count for the rest of the count, although his lead shrunk considerably.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as votes are tallied:
Polls close at 8 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. Polls in most of the state are in the Eastern time zone and close at 8 p.m. ET, but some polls in the Upper Peninsula along the Wisconsin border are in Central time and close at 9 p.m. ET. The Associated Press will not declare winners in statewide races before the last polls have closed at 9 p.m. ET.
The AP will provide vote results and declare winners for Senate, House, governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state Senate, state House, state university oversight boards and two statewide ballot measures.
About 4.5 million votes were cast in the 2022 race for Michigan governor.
About 42% of the vote in the 2022 race for Michigan governor were early in-person or by mail..
The latest advance vote totals for Michigan can be found in the AP’s advance vote tracker.
Michigan counties vary in when and how they release vote results. The first vote updates of the night across the state are expected to be a mix of results from mail, early in-person and in-person Election Day voting. Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee and Washtenaw counties tend to release relatively few results in their first vote updates.
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results at 8:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The vote count reached the halfway mark at 12:12 a.m. ET. The last vote update of the night was at 4:40 a.m. ET with about 99% of total votes counted.
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Recounts in Michigan are automatic in statewide races if the vote margin is 0.1% or less of the total votes cast. Under the state’s 2024 recount law, candidates may request and pay for a recount if they have a “good-faith belief” that there’s a “reasonable chance” they would have won if not for a vote-counting error. The AP may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.
FILE - Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks alongside President Donald Trump during an event at the General Motors Proving Ground, July 27, 2026, in Milford, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Former President Barack Obama, center, joined by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed, left, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson raise hands during a campaign event at Cass Technical High School Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Detroit.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
