IAAF getting complaints about Vaporfly?

[Conor Dary]

Didn't the UCI wipe all those hour records off the books set with exotic bike designs? Didn't Chris Boardman have to reset the record using a 1970's bike and barely eclipsed Eddie Merckx?


The IAAF cared enough to make certain tracks illegal.

Only thing on TT bikes they outlawed was the position being almost horizontal....

You think those wheels are anything like Merckx rode?

What tracks?

[Conor Dary]

Steve Jones's take:

<<... I find it to be good theater or circus style drama..... It’s a bit like Evil Knievel jumping the Grand Canyon or someone eating 100 hotdogs in 10 minutes....>>

More from him, and also Rod Dixon in a piece now posted to home page

I like Jonesy....always good for a laugh...

[CookyMonzta]

The ghost of Abebe Bikila wants to know why the pansies of today need to wear shoes at all.

That is why he is still #1 on my G.O.A.T. marathon list. He broke the WR barefooted (2:15:17) at Rome 1960 and won another Olympic gold (with shoes this time) in Tokyo 1964 in WR time (2:12:12). Has anyone run faster barefooted since?

[Conor Dary]

That is why he is still #1 on my G.O.A.T. marathon list. He broke the WR barefooted (2:15:17) at Rome 1960 and won another Olympic gold (with shoes this time) in Tokyo 1964 in WR time (2:12:12). Has anyone run faster barefooted since?

Good question....I'm certain the answer is no...

[tandfman]

Guinness thinks the answer is no.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com...38414632920201

[TN1965]

Serious questions: Were MJs 1996 golden shoes criticized at any point back then, knowing they were specifically tailor made for his feet so that he could perform at his best in the Olympics? Were they available to the general public? What is the difference between special spikes that are tailor made for pro sprinters and this situation with the vaporflys?

There are not many adult "hobby sprinters" who believe they should be on the level playing field with MJ or Bolt.

In road racing, the mass participate in the same race with the top elites. (I was once in the same race with Geoffrey Mutai and Moses Mosop.) While someone as slow as myself would not fancy that I should have the level playing field with Mutai and Mosop, there are faster, more serious runners who might.

[gh]

another angle, as presented in our overview:

<<...And even without the spikes being readily available, the basic Vaporfly road shoe is already being used in track 10Ks at the collegiate level. Reportedly most of the 6 BYU runners in the NCAA 10,000 in June wore Vaporflys. Says Burns, “If you’re a Nike-sponsored NCAA school, you could be at a huge advantage.” Will college fans even notice? Of the 20 XC squads that currently occupy the current top 10 spots on the men’s and women’s USTFCCCA poll, 60% are Nike schools. However, expect the 40% of programs that are non-Nike to have something to say....>>

[Conor Dary]

Horrors again...

So you ban the Nike shoe at the NCAAs then what....Nike doesn't sponsor any track teams? That would even the playing field....make them all lousy...

What are the other 40% running in? Underarmour? Which schools? Maybe they aren't very good to begin with....

[gh]

I don't think that's how it works. Far as I know (could be wrong) no shoe company sponsors any collegiate track team; they sponsor schools. One big package deal. So if the football program is in Shoe X, that's what all the teams wear.

[Conor Dary]

I know....Nebraska is sponsored by Adidas...Northwestern and Notre Dame by Underarmour...Oregon by someone but I can't recall now....I'm sure it will come to me....

Does Underarmour even make a shoe? I can't even recall anyone in college wearing Adidas shoes....

A friend of mine from England son is running for a D1 Nike school this year ...and he wanted to wear his old spikes from England and they said no....

I could see this Nike advantage 10 or 20 years ago being a thing...but these days ...certainly 30 years ago but now...