 Since the early 2000s, North Korean athletes have openly worn sporting equipment with logos of foreign brands on them.In 2017, North Korea complained to various international sporting associations that sanctions against it imposed by the United States unfairly prevent it from buying professional sporting equipment.Marathon running in North Korea began in earnest in 1975 when Choe Chang-sop won the Košice Peace Marathon in Czechoslovakia becoming the greatest athlete in North Korea at the time.