This archive report was first published on 10 May 2020.
Nike's Rivals Play Catch-up in Marathon Shoe Battles ¶
Published on May 10, 2020
Nike's Vaporfly running shoes have been at the centre of controversy in the running world, with critics claiming they give athletes an unfair advantage. However, the shoes have also been hailed as a revolutionary technical advance in footwear.
When Eliud Kipchoge made history by beating the two-hour mark for the marathon, he was wearing a pair of Nike's Air Zoom Alphafly Next% shoes, which feature three carbon-fibre plates. Fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei set a new women's record of 2hr 14min 04sec in Chicago a day later, wearing ZoomX Vaporfly Next% shoes with a single plate.
World Athletics eventually stepped in to limit the thickness of the sole to 40 millimetres and one embedded plate, while also insisting that running shoes had to be commercially available from mid-March to be allowed in elite competition.
US-based journalist Brian Metzler, author of 'Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes', believes that shoes with carbon-fibre plates are fair and do not artificially create energy. He argues that the key is that all competitors must have access to similar or equal technology to ensure an equal playing field.
Geoff Burns, a biomechanics and sport performance researcher at the University of Michigan, said the introduction of Vaporflys had been a tipping point, allowing engineers and biomechanists to re-think the architecture of what was on someone's foot.
However, Amby Burfoot, winner of the 1968 Boston marathon and a former editor-in-chief of Runner's World magazine, thinks the unannounced introduction of the Nike shoes in 2016 was 'absolutely unfair'. He argues that it was equivalent to letting one group of pole vaulters use fibreglass while everyone else was consigned to bamboo or some other stiff material.
Nike seems to have a significant headstart on other producers in research and development, although major rivals have scrambled to launch their own versions in a bid for a share of the ultra-competitive market.
