User:Jus.Hong/sandbox

Article: The technological advancements in the running world and how they are affecting athletes and performances fairly/unfairly.

Title: Mechanical Doping in Running

Mechanical doping in athletics has undergone a great debate within the running world in recent years due to Nike's 'Breaking Two' project, where current world record holder over the marathon distance, Eliud Kipchoge, broke the legendary two hour marathon barrier in his time of 1:59:40 in 2019 through the streets of Vienna, Austria. However, the results were within a designated setting designed for Kipchoge to maximize his potential, accompanied by a constant cycling group of pacers (all Nike sponsored runners) sporting the distinctive, bright pink color of Nike's prototype AlphaFly shoe. A shoe that brought the question, how far can shoe companies push technology until an unfair advantage is built and competition becomes driven by an unfair technological advantage?

History of running shoe[ edit]
1852: Running spikes by founder of Boulton company (today Reebok) Joseph William Foster. The spikes were added to the bottom of Plimsolls for improved grip. https://mentalitch.com/the-history-of-running-shoes/

1920: 7-time Boston Marathon winner Clarence Demar ultilzied crepe thin rubber soles in addition to a leather upper

1925: Adolf Dassler, who invented running shoes in their modern design in the 1920s, developed different sneakers for long-distance runners and sprinters. In 1925 he manufactured the special shoes for athletics (sprinter running and long jump) and patented spikes with a cushion underfoot.

1951: Japan's Shegeki Tanaki wins Boston marathon in split-toe shoe with separate compartment for big toe

1960's: New Balance's Trackster shoe: sole with deep ripples advertised with avoiding injury

1974: Nike Waffle Trainer Released and made famous by Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike

1977: Brooks Vantage introduced EVA polymer material into midsole of their products resulting in a lighter and more comfortable shoe

2010's: Introduction of carbon fiber plating within the midsoles of shoes

https://www.runnersworld.com/gear/a20787065/a-brief-history-of-the-running-shoe/

Use of Nike's Vaporfly shoes in professional races[ edit]

 * Top 5 marathons ever run were run in Nike prototype alpha shoes


 * Kenya's Brigid Kosgei broke Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe's 2003 world record in a time of 2:14:04 in the 2019 Chicago Marathon wearing Nike's AlphaFly Shoehttps://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/50035304
 * Eliud Kipchoge 2019 INEOS 1:59 Challenge
 * 2018 Berlin Marathon world record in 2:01:39 recognized as the men's world record in the marathon distance
 * Triathlon world - Ironman World Championship
 * Anne Haug 2019 Ironman World Champion wearing Nike's Next%
 * Lucy Charles-Barkely 2019 runner up in the Ironman World Championship wearing Nike's Next%
 * Ben Hoffman, 4th place in the 2019 Ironman World Championship wearing Nike Next%
 * https://www.triathlete.com/2020/01/gear-tech/bike/nike-next-triathlon_386615
 * International Triathlon Union (ITU) as of writing this article will determine if eventual updates to equiptment rules are needed.

2020 world athletics statement on shoe technology[ edit]
In the IAAF athletics competition rules for 2018-2019, rule 142,143 states that "Such shoes, however, must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair assistance or advantage. Any type of shoe used must be reasonably available to all in the spirit of the universality of athletics".

Nike in a quote to the wall street journal, "we respect the world athletics and the spirit of their rules, and we do not create any running shoes that reutrn more energy than the runner expends"

Due to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the IAAF in conjunction with the Olympic committee has determined a new set of rules as a result.


 * 1) Any new shoe technology developed after 30 April will have to be available on the open market for four months before an athlete can use it in competition.
 * 2) World Athletics has also introduced an immediate indefinite ban on any shoes that have a sole thicker than 40mm.
 * 3) An immediate indefinite ban has also been introduced on any shoe that contains more than one "rigid embedded plate or blade"
 * 4) For a shoe with spikes, an additional plate (to the plate mentioned above) or other mechanism is permitted, but only for the purpose of attaching the spikes to the sole, and the sole must be no thicker than 30mm

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/modified-rules-shoes

Nike[ edit]
Current iterations of Nike's high performance driven shoes remain the Vaporfly series. Though manufacturing and direct specifications remain under Nike discretion, it can be determined through use and disection of the shoe illustrates their patentied fly wire technology and clear one peice mesh upper. And for the midsole, pebax, Nike's patiented polymer known as zoom percent foam, which is utilized in aircraft manufactoring as well as a full length carbon fiber plate adding rigidity and responsiveness to runner.

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/23/808681604/nike-vaporfly-shoes-controversy

https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2019/10/14/shoes-and-sub-2-hr-marathon/

Brooks[ edit]
Hyperion