Are Nike trainers ruining running?
Since Nike’s Vaporfly trainers were launched in 2016, they have transformed running, said Matthew Futterman in The New
York Times. The shoes fuse a lightweight foam called Pebax with a carbon plate, creating a spring effect that allows runners to expend less energy with each step. As a result, they improve running times by at least 4%. Since the end of 2018, the five fastest marathons in history have been won by runners wearing some version of the Vaporflys; in October, Eliud Kipchoge was wearing a bespoke pair when he became the first person to break the two-hour barrier. So it’s hardly surprising that critics claim the shoes offer an “unfair advantage”. But they will still be permitted at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, following a decision last week by World Athletics, the international governing body. The revised rules, which come into effect in April, will require shoes to have a sole no thicker than 40mm and to have been on sale to the general public ( see page 43) for at least four months. Almost all Vaporflys make the grade.
That’s certainly good news for Nike, said Sean Ingle in The Guardian. But it puts other brands in a tricky position. Nike is thought to be two years ahead of them, and it has so many patents on its technology that it will be hard for everyone else to “catch up”. The concern is that anyone who isn’t running in Nike gear will suffer: races risk being “decided by shoe brand rather than human endeavour”.