By: Jim Abbott
Ahead of Sunday’s annual New York City marathon there appears to be some controversial debate taking place amongst runners and officials over the Nike Vaporfly running shoes.
According to a Reuters article that appeared on Friday, these high tech sneakers were worn by athletes in two of the biggest distance-running achievements this year.
The debate over the hyper advanced sneakers known as the Vaporfly and made by Nike, focuses on the victories that Eliud Kipchoge had in a two hour marathon in Vienna, Austria as well as the record breaking victory scored by Brigid Kosgei in last month’s Chicago Marathon. Critics of the high tech shoes claim that they give an unfair advantage to runners.
Speaking to Reuters, Shalane Flanagan, who won in New York in 2017, said that the running community should “always question what’s going on” in her sport but said the debate should not overshadow individual performances.
“You could give the pair of shoes to Joe Shmo off the street — they can’t go run what Eliud ran or Brigid Kosgei,” said Flanagan, a Nike athlete who recently retired from competition and was consulted in the creation of the shoe.
“It’s up to other companies now to match the innovation or the IAAF needs to come in and say, ‘we’re not having this innovation as part of our sport’,” the American added, as was reported by Reuters.
Months before Kipchoge’s now historic run, Reuters reported that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) established a group to determine whether the running shoes were fair. The group is expected to supply a report before years end.
“The challenge is striking a balance between spurring development of ‘new technologies’ while preserving ‘the fundamental characteristics of the sport’,” the association said in a statement.
IAAF rules state “shoes must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair assistance or advantage” and that “any type of shoe used must be reasonably available to all.”
Meb Keflezighi, a retirde marathon runner who won the NYC marathon a decade ago told Reuters that credit for a victory still belongs to the runners themselves despite the stellar advances in running footwear..
“You’ve got to have the lungs, you’ve got to have put in the work and all that,” the Keflezighi said. “If there’s a lot of aid at the end I’m pretty sure it will make a difference,” the Olympic silver medalist said.
Reuters reported that in New York, Des Linden, who won the 2i018 Boston Marathon told reporters that, “It’s super frustrating that someone has an amazing race and we go, ‘what are they wearing?’ It’s not just the athlete anymore,”
Athletics is not the only sport to consider reining in the use of advanced technology in competition, as was reported by Reuters. In 2010, high-tech suits were banned from swimming amid a glut of broken records.
