Controversial Nike Vaporfly avoids ban under stricter rules
Athletes can use shoe in Tokyo as Coe ‘draws line’ Alphafly worn for record Kipchoge run is illegal
The controversial Nike Vaporfly shoes which have revolutionised marathon running have been approved by World Athletics, despite its announcement of strict new limits on footwear technology.
Under increasing pressure to look at innovation in road-running shoes, the sport’s governing body has imposed limits on footwear used in competition, which mean Nike’s prototype Alphafly shoes – worn by Eliud Kipchoge when he became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours – will never become legal.
The rules also state that from April 30 any shoe used in competition must have been generally available to the public for four months, thus ending the familiar scenario of athletes wearing prototype shoes in major races.
Explaining the decision, Lord Coe, the World Athletics president, said: “It is not our job to regulate the entire sports-shoe market, but it is our duty to preserve the integrity of elite competition by ensuring that the shoes worn by elite athletes in competition do not offer any unfair assistance or advantage.
“As we enter the Olympic year, we don’t believe we can rule out shoes that have been generally available for a considerable period, but we can draw a line by prohibiting the use of shoes that go further than what is currently on the market while we investigate further.
“I believe these new rules strike the right balance by offering certainty to athletes and manufacturers as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while addressing the concerns that have been raised about shoe technology.”
Nike’s Vaporfly shoes have altered the entire landscape of marathon running since the initial Nike 4% was released in 2016 and the Next% followed a year later.
Athletes wearing the Next% claimed 31 of the 36 topthree finishes in major marathons last year, while Kipchoge and fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei both wore versions of the shoe when shattering the marathon world records. With its thick sole, ultra-responsive foam and curved carbon plate, the shoes have been found to give runners somewhere in the region of a 4 per cent saving in running economy, allowing athletes to expel less energy.
The Alphafly shoe worn by Kipchoge when running a marathon distance in 1hr 59min 40sec last October took the core elements of its predecessor and turbocharged them, with a far thicker sole, up to three carbon plates and pod-like cushioning dotted around them.
Under new World Athletics rules, shoes must now have a sole no thicker than 40mm and cannot contain “more than one rigid embedded plate or blade” in any one section of a shoe.
The Vaporfly 4%, with a 31mm sole in the heel, and Next%, which contains a 39mm sole in the heel, will both be allowed, but the Alphafly’s reported 50mm sole means it will not. The Alphafly is also believed to contain three carbon plates, which is no longer allowed.
Any Alphafly shoe Nike does release will need to be vastly different to the one seen during Kipchoge’s historic feat.
The new rules also concern track shoes, allowing one additional plate or blade only to attach spikes, but the sole must not be thicker than 30mm.
World Athletics stated that road and track shoes customised for “aesthetic or medical reasons” would be permitted, prompting British Olympic track runner Eilish Mccolgan to comment: “This is going to get messy. Folk are going to end up having TUES [therapeutic use exemptions] so that they can wear springs on their feet!”
The governing body’s intervention comes just in the nick of time, with Nike-sponsored athletes seen training in the Alphafly shoe ahead of the United States Olympic marathon trial at the end of this month.
A number of other companies are due to bring out their own carbon-plated shoes this year, although with four months of public sale required before a shoe can be used in competition, it is likely only to strengthen Nike’s hand over its rivals in Tokyo.
World Athletics has also announced the establishment of an “expert working group to guide future research into shoe technology” as well as assessing any new shoes that enter the market.