Record-setting Super Shoes Are Here To Stay, Say Experts

Derided by purists, evangelised by innovators: "super shoes" are the tools of the trade for today's athletes and will continue to radically change the landscape of track and road running, experts have told AFP

Tokyo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jul, 2021 ) :Derided by purists, evangelised by innovators: "super shoes" are the tools of the trade for today's athletes and will continue to radically change the landscape of track and road running, experts have told AFP.

A mass of not only new world records, but also a slew of national records and startling personal bests since the 2016 Rio Olympics show athletes are thriving on new technology that has pushed the biomechanics of the running shoe to a new level.

When the Olympic athletics programme starts in Tokyo on Friday, many athletes will be wearing the super-light shoes that contain a rigid plate and unique foam that lend a propulsive sensation to every stride.

Critics claim the shoes, first developed by Nike, are the equivalent of mechanical doping, while supporters hail them as a revolutionary advance after decades of stagnation.

"There seems to be an acceptance now that the new generation of shoes are part of the sport moving forward," Geoff Burns, a biomechanics and sport performance researcher at the University of Michigan and an expert in running shoe technology, told AFP.

"We definitely don't hear of people calling for the shoes to be banned so much anymore." US-based journalist Brian Metzler, author of "Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes", said there was a broader acceptance, largely because "all brands have caught up to Nike and because there is a greater understanding of how the school technology works".

"The key factors in acceptance are making sure there is a fair playing field and also the notion that there is no additional energy being created by the shoes, but instead a greater return of energy from the force the runner is applying with each stride," Metzler told AFP.

Athletes, added Amby Burfoot, winner of the 1968 Boston marathon and a former editor-in-chief of Runner's World magazine, "only care about running fast, and they have realised they must wear new shoes -- from whatever company -- if they are to keep up with the competition".

He said: "I doubt the general public cares very much about the shoes, or understands them. That leaves only the sports historians and sports statisticians to debate what they should do about the fast new performances."