{"id":73530,"date":"2024-07-18T01:59:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T05:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=73530"},"modified":"2024-07-18T01:59:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T05:59:39","slug":"supershoes-have-transformed-competitive-distance-running-but-they-remain-controversial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/supershoes-have-transformed-competitive-distance-running-but-they-remain-controversial\/","title":{"rendered":"Supershoes have transformed competitive distance running, but they remain controversial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the face of it, competitive distance running appears not to have changed much since the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. However, even the relative simplicity of racing from gun to tape has radically altered in recent years due to the rise of advanced running footwear known colloquially as \u201csupershoes\u201d.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, the Nike Vaporfly shoe kicked off\u00a0a storm of controversy<\/a>\u00a0in athletics. It became a focus for claims about whether it provided some athletes with an unfair advantage over those not equipped\u00a0with the shoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge wore prototype Vaporfly shoes when he became the first athlete to run the marathon distance in under two hours as part of the Ineos 1:59\u00a0challenge in Vienna<\/a>. Ultimately, the shoes avoided a ban just in time for the\u00a02020 Tokyo Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Several years on, what more do we understand about these shoes and how they work? My recent paper attempts to review and answer ten key\u00a0questions about supershoes<\/a>\u00a0as the Paris Olympics now loom on the horizon.<\/p>\n

First, we need to understand what supershoes are and how they differ from traditional running footwear. Initially, supershoes used a sole that saw a combination of material called a polyamide block elastomer (known by its tradename Pebax) coupled with the use of a carbon fibre plate.<\/p>\n

At the height of the controversy, much was made of this plate, leading to claims that they were essentially springs propelling runners along. However, scientists now understand that, generally speaking, it\u2019s the combination of all of\u00a0the soles\u2019 components<\/a>\u00a0working together harmoniously that\u2019s behind the shoes\u2019 success.<\/p>\n

This broad effect has helped topple a raft of world records in the marathon and half-marathon distances. The shoes have\u00a0improved times<\/a>\u00a0by roughly 1.4-2.8% or 0.6-2.2% in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s marathon events respectively over the last seven to eight years.<\/p>\n

Today, other brands such as Adidas and Saucony have their own designs and use different components in different ways. But the harmonious principle in the sole design is inherently the same.<\/p>\n

Teeter-totter effect<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Beyond the observation that all components are working in unison, a more detailed explanation of how the shoes work remains elusive because so many different influences can contribute to athletic performance. Among factors credited with the shoes\u2019 enhanced performance are the thickness of the midsole and what\u2019s been termed the\u00a0\u201cteeter-totter\u201d effect<\/a>, an upwards reaction force that passively enhances the propulsive stance of the runner. There\u2019s also\u00a0evidence against<\/a>\u00a0both of these ideas.<\/p>\n

However, there is now strong evidence that supershoes\u00a0reduce a runners\u2019 oxygen consumption<\/a>\u00a0when compared to traditional running shoes. However, the scientific community isn\u2019t in agreement as to how that is achieved.<\/p>\n

Most studies\u00a0focus on well-trained runners<\/a>\u00a0so it\u2019s plausible that a recreational runner or those of a different age could see wildly different levels of performance enhancement than the elite runners we\u2019ll see in Paris this summer. It\u2019s also conceivable that the placebo effect could mean that simply knowing that you are wearing an advanced shoe makes you perform better in a race, regardless of whether the shoe helps or not.<\/p>\n

As to the shoes\u2019 acceptability, that is ultimately decided by the\u00a0sport\u2019s stakeholders and you<\/a>, the spectator. Whether they are fair or not, new technology can either prompt people to use it or provide cost barriers that\u00a0reduce peoples\u2019 participation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, consumers can now purchase supershoe technology themselves. Whether they really want to or are happy to do so for something that may only be effective for\u00a0a few hundred miles of running<\/a>\u00a0before the sole materials could begin to lose their potent mechanical properties remains equally contentious.<\/p>\n

The use of supershoes has not been unchecked or challenged. In 2020, World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport,\u00a0moved to limit this technology<\/a>\u00a0by implementing regulations that countered what it felt was contributing to the magnitude and frequency of records being broken.<\/p>\n

In this case, the governing body\u2019s rules centred on limiting the sole thickness, the number and complexity of any internal rigid structures (such as the carbon fibre plates) and the prevention of shoes that were one-offs and would therefore not be accessible for the consumer to buy.<\/p>\n

Most leading running shoe brands have now released their own supershoes. The technology will undoubtedly evolve, so perpetual vigilance will be required by the World Athletics. Ultimately, supershoes have sometimes courted controversy, but they don\u2019t seem to be going away and will remain an important part of distance running for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Bryce Dyer is Associate Professor of Sports Technology at Bournemouth University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the face of it, competitive distance running appears not to have changed much since the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. However, even the relative simplicity of racing from gun to tape has radically altered in recent years due to the rise of advanced running footwear known colloquially as \u201csupershoes\u201d. A few years ago, […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33311],"tags":[435029],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-73530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-supershoes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSupershoes have transformed competitive distance running, but they remain controversial - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/supershoes-have-transformed-competitive-distance-running-but-they-remain-controversial\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supershoes have transformed competitive distance running, but they remain controversial - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On the face of it, competitive distance running appears not to have changed much since the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. 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