FUERTH, Germany (Reuters) - Investors in Adidas took aim at the management of the German sportswear company on Thursday, saying they were not convinced a new strategy would be enough to challenge the dominance of rival Nike .
"ADIDAS (ADS.XE)is panting behind the competition. Adidas lost the race, at least in 2014," Gerhard Jaeger, spokesman for the SdK INVESTOR (INVEB.ES)association, told the firm's annual general meeting in the southern town of Fuerth.
Long-serving Chief Executive Herbert Hainer, who faced calls to quit last year after Adidas was hit by falling golf sales and its heavy exposure to Russia, said the company was addressing its problem areas and had made a good start to 2015.
"It never feels good if you don't reach all of your goals, neither in sport, nor in business nor in your personal life. But the key thing is to never give up," he said.
"We have taken our learnings from 2014 and developed an exciting and promising strategy for the period up until 2020."
Adidas reported better-than-expected first-quarter results on Tuesday as its struggling North America business showed some signs of improvement after a big increase in marketing.
Hainer launched a new five-year strategy in March to lift sales by almost half to above 22 billion euros, focusing on speeding up the supply chain and achieving success in the United States and the world's largest cities.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Jason Neely)