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Fabulous run with "wonder shoe":
The Kenyan
Eliud Kipchoge
at his 2019 marathon in Vienna, where he was the first person to stay under two hours
Photo:
Leonhard Foeger / REUTERS
When the Olympic Games begin in Tokyo in a few days on July 23, it will also be a competition between sporting goods companies like Nike and Adidas who equip the athletes - especially on their feet.
The belief in special shoe designs and technologies and their possible performance-enhancing effect is particularly high among long-distance runners.
Nike has been a pioneer for several years.
The US group launched its new "Vaporfly" model in 2016.
The model has a particularly high sole, which is reportedly made from a special foam and equipped with several carbon plates inside.
Nike itself has not yet disclosed the exact manufacture of this sole.
The technology is supposed to create an effect in which a particularly large amount of the energy that is given off when you step on the floor flows back to the athlete.
Some observers are already talking about "tech doping" in this context.
But the "Vaporfly" shoe is approved for competition, the World Athletics Federation only decided at the beginning of 2020.
And it is to be expected that the majority of runners in Tokyo will go hunting for medals with this shoe on.
After all, there are already studies showing that the "Vaporfly" technique actually improves running economy by up to 4 percent.
This does not mean that a runner can directly reduce his time with the shoe by 4 percent.
But they might do a little faster.
"Wonderful shoes" come and go
There are also indications from practice. Since Nike brought the "Vaporfly" onto the market, various best times have been set with it. The highlight so far: The presentation of the Kenyan
Eliud Kipchoge
(36), who ran a full marathon distance in less than two hours in a successor to the "Vaporfly" in Vienna in 2019 for the first time in history. On the same weekend,
Brigid Kosgei
(27), a runner also from Kenya, also managed to break the women's marathon world record. She also wore the "wonder shoes" from Nike.
Whereby "wonderful shoes" - there are also reasons for skepticism. The claim by shoe manufacturers that a certain model makes the runner faster per se thanks to special technology is about as old as the history of the running shoe itself. Sometimes it is just a matter of marketing.
In the past, shoes with special properties and promises kept coming into stores - and then disappeared again. Examples are the "Fila Racers" that Kenyan
Paul Tergat
(52) wore in 2003 when he set a new marathon world record. Or the Adidas "ProPlate" model, which the former exceptional runner
Haile Gebrselassie
(48) swore by, and in which he also achieved various record times. These shoes are also reportedly made with carbon in the sole.
Nike's "Vaporfly" technology is proving - with the best times of the running elite behind them - so far, however, apparently also commercially as a success for the group. The Americans sell current models with this sole for prices of up to just under 300 euros. As the group announced in April, it increased its total sales in the fiscal year ended March - despite Corona - by 17 percent to 35.8 billion dollars. The running division contributed around eleven percent with just under four billion dollars. In the previous year, the group had turned over 3.8 billion dollars in the running area.
In any case, the Nike competitor Adidas from Herzogenaurach should follow this business development closely. In response to "Vaporfly", Adidas launched its own "wonder shoe" last year: the "Adizero Adios Pro". This model also uses carbon in the sole, in this case in the form of tubes. (At least) a world record has already been set: In September 2020, the Kenyan
Peres Jepchirchir
(27)
broke the
women's record in the "Adizero Adios Pro" in the half marathon.
Adidas is currently selling the latest version for 220 euros.
How successful the group is with this is unclear, Adidas does not provide detailed information on running business or even on this shoe model in its business results for 2020 or in the latest quarterly figures.
So it remains to be seen how many athletes in Tokyo wear Adidas shoes - and how many shoes from Nike, Brooks, Asics or other competitors.
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