Technology is always involved in the performance race.....
High performance sneakers now made by Nike and Adidas have been shown to improve race times in the most elite runners and marathoners. The Nike sneakers were worn by all three medalists in the men’s marathon at the Rio Olympics and by winners of recent marathons in Berlin, Chicago and New York. (The name of the Nike shoe used by the Olympic medalists is the Zoom Vaporfly. It will retail in June for $250.)
Writer Jere Longman presents the advantages of these shoes as well as the ethical issues they raise: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/sports/nikes-vivid-shoes-and-the-gray-area-of-performance-enhancement.html?mwrsm=Email.
What’s “High Performance” about these sneakers?
Longman writes…..
“The shoes weigh about 6.5 ounces and feature a thick but lightweight midsole that is said to return 13 percent more energy than more conventional foam midsoles. Some runners have said the shoes reduce fatigue in their legs.
“Embedded in the length of the midsole is a thin, stiff carbon-fiber plate that is scooped like a spoon. Imagined another way, it is somewhat curved like a blade. The plate is designed to reduce the amount of oxygen needed to run at a fast pace. It stores and releases energy with each stride and is meant to act as a kind of slingshot, or catapult, to propel runners forward.
“Nike says that the carbon-fiber plate saves 4 percent of the energy needed to run at a given speed when compared with another of its popular racing shoes.”
According to South African exercise physiologist Ross Tucker, wearing these sneakers results in a “massive” difference in results, “the equivalent of running downhill at a fairly steep gradient of 1 to 1.5 percent”.
Issues
This new technology is just another in a parade of innovations of all kinds – ingestible and external -- designed to improve competitors’ performance in sports. Sports get more competitive. There’s more investment in technology and research to improve performance. Performance is increasingly rewarded.
In the popular press as well as in sports publications there are weekly articles on improving performance at all levels in everything. Everyone from elites to recreational athletes wants to know the latest finding or innovation. How do Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, or Serena Williams swim, throw, and serve respectively?
So while ingested substances have long been frowned upon (many banned), what about gear or external equipment (for lack of a better term)? Different sports have judged innovations in equipment differently. As Longwood writes, after the 2008 Beijing Olympics full-body swim suits were banned, judged to give swimmers an unfair advantage. On the other hand, new material for cyclists was welcomed. In the early 2000s carbon fiber replaced aluminum as the main material for competitive cycling. And what elite tennis players today play with wooden racquets?
In the world of running, there is precedent for sneakers being banned. As Longman writes, in 2007, Spira Footwear running shoes were banned by the International Association of Athletics Federation. The spring technology in them was considered an unfair advantage.
It will be interesting to see how the International Association of Athletics Federations, the ruling body of track will judge these sneakers. Do these sneakers give runners a fair advantage or not? The sneakers worn by elite marathoners are tailor-made for each competitor’s unique foot. They cost $250. Another version (not tailor-made) will be available for runners in June for $150. Will these sneakers be just as effective? (Hirsch, chairman of the New York Road Runners, believes that age-group competitions as well as elite races will be affected by this technology. )
These sneakers and their implications raise endless other questions. If the sneakers are allowed, do they give a fair or unfair advantage? If the sneakers are not allowed, how will race directors check runners’ feet? How will the IAAF consider the advantages of the critical carbon-fiber plate in the mid-sole as compared with those of the springs in the Spira Footwear shoes? How will the IAAF articulate its stance on the sneakers, specificity of language being critical to clarity and rules?
- c.u.
High performance sneakers now made by Nike and Adidas have been shown to improve race times in the most elite runners and marathoners. The Nike sneakers were worn by all three medalists in the men’s marathon at the Rio Olympics and by winners of recent marathons in Berlin, Chicago and New York. (The name of the Nike shoe used by the Olympic medalists is the Zoom Vaporfly. It will retail in June for $250.)
Writer Jere Longman presents the advantages of these shoes as well as the ethical issues they raise: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/sports/nikes-vivid-shoes-and-the-gray-area-of-performance-enhancement.html?mwrsm=Email.
What’s “High Performance” about these sneakers?
Longman writes…..
“The shoes weigh about 6.5 ounces and feature a thick but lightweight midsole that is said to return 13 percent more energy than more conventional foam midsoles. Some runners have said the shoes reduce fatigue in their legs.
“Embedded in the length of the midsole is a thin, stiff carbon-fiber plate that is scooped like a spoon. Imagined another way, it is somewhat curved like a blade. The plate is designed to reduce the amount of oxygen needed to run at a fast pace. It stores and releases energy with each stride and is meant to act as a kind of slingshot, or catapult, to propel runners forward.
“Nike says that the carbon-fiber plate saves 4 percent of the energy needed to run at a given speed when compared with another of its popular racing shoes.”
According to South African exercise physiologist Ross Tucker, wearing these sneakers results in a “massive” difference in results, “the equivalent of running downhill at a fairly steep gradient of 1 to 1.5 percent”.
Issues
This new technology is just another in a parade of innovations of all kinds – ingestible and external -- designed to improve competitors’ performance in sports. Sports get more competitive. There’s more investment in technology and research to improve performance. Performance is increasingly rewarded.
In the popular press as well as in sports publications there are weekly articles on improving performance at all levels in everything. Everyone from elites to recreational athletes wants to know the latest finding or innovation. How do Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, or Serena Williams swim, throw, and serve respectively?
So while ingested substances have long been frowned upon (many banned), what about gear or external equipment (for lack of a better term)? Different sports have judged innovations in equipment differently. As Longwood writes, after the 2008 Beijing Olympics full-body swim suits were banned, judged to give swimmers an unfair advantage. On the other hand, new material for cyclists was welcomed. In the early 2000s carbon fiber replaced aluminum as the main material for competitive cycling. And what elite tennis players today play with wooden racquets?
In the world of running, there is precedent for sneakers being banned. As Longman writes, in 2007, Spira Footwear running shoes were banned by the International Association of Athletics Federation. The spring technology in them was considered an unfair advantage.
It will be interesting to see how the International Association of Athletics Federations, the ruling body of track will judge these sneakers. Do these sneakers give runners a fair advantage or not? The sneakers worn by elite marathoners are tailor-made for each competitor’s unique foot. They cost $250. Another version (not tailor-made) will be available for runners in June for $150. Will these sneakers be just as effective? (Hirsch, chairman of the New York Road Runners, believes that age-group competitions as well as elite races will be affected by this technology. )
These sneakers and their implications raise endless other questions. If the sneakers are allowed, do they give a fair or unfair advantage? If the sneakers are not allowed, how will race directors check runners’ feet? How will the IAAF consider the advantages of the critical carbon-fiber plate in the mid-sole as compared with those of the springs in the Spira Footwear shoes? How will the IAAF articulate its stance on the sneakers, specificity of language being critical to clarity and rules?
- c.u.