IAAF getting complaints about Vaporfly?

[Master Po]

The shoe that assisted performances most recently at INEOS and Chicago seems more problematic than the Vaporfly4% that has been assisting performances for the past ~3 years. Prior to this one, I have not wanted to 'regulate' these developments in shoes, but with this one -- whatever it is called -- it seems to me, in my present understanding, to be much more assisting performance. I would be OK with some regulation,e.g., of stack height, as suggest in the British journal editorial. That would set one sort of limit. Or, one might suggest a limit such as: a graphite plate is OK; multiple layered graphite plates are not OK.

[ATK]

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?

[Atticus]

I would be OK with some regulation,e.g., of stack height, as suggest in the British journal editorial. That would set one sort of limit. Or, one might suggest a limit such as: a graphite plate is OK; multiple layered graphite plates are not OK.

Shoe-makers have been adding and subtracting materials to the shoes since Adi Dassler was a boy. How is this any different? I'd only draw the line at actual springs, but even that's arbitrary, since it only uses the runner's own energy.

[gh]

from the overview we did (currently main story on home page), relative to the new shoes not just affecting marathong:

<<...So while the Burns/Tam proposal focuses on road running, Burns confirms that the issue is just as real on the oval. “If the spikes Hassan was wearing added ~1cm under the forefoot of a highly resilient material without adding weight,” he says, “it could be about a 1% improvement in running economy from the longer leg alone, which could be 1.5–2 seconds in a 1500/mile.” He adds that those numbers don’t consider “the benefit of the energy storage and return from the plate and material.”..>>

[lonewolf]

Hmmm.. next step, handicap runners by leg length???

[Conor Dary]

from the overview we did (currently main story on home page), relative to the new shoes not just affecting marathong:

<<...So while the Burns/Tam proposal focuses on road running, Burns confirms that the issue is just as real on the oval. “If the spikes Hassan was wearing added ~1cm under the forefoot of a highly resilient material without adding weight,” he says, “it could be about a 1% improvement in running economy from the longer leg alone, which could be 1.5–2 seconds in a 1500/mile.” He adds that those numbers don’t consider “the benefit of the energy storage and return from the plate and material.”..>>

Faster track times ....Horrors....the public will be up in arms!

I thought this would be the perfect solution to the Millennium World Record crowd....

[jazzcyclist]

If you think about it, many sports have rules in place to limit the "trampoline effect" of its equipment. The PGA has limits on golf balls as does the ITF on tennis balls. The balls in these sports must pass standardized tests in order to be legal. The reason why MLB stipulates that bats be made of solid wood, as opposed to corked wood, aluminum or titanium, is to limit the trampoline effect, and even in college baseball, where aluminum bats are allowed, the bats must meet certain specs in order limits its performance. Similarly, the NFL has rules in place to limit the performance of footballs, lest kickers kick them out of the stadium. Even in track and field, synthetic tracks must pass the "ball bearing test" in order to be deemed suitable for an IAAF-sanctioned event. Why should shoes be exempt from these sort of rules that have always been a part of sports?

[Conor Dary]

Yeah the golf ball thing....they hit it about 500 yards now....so much for that...

And cycling... look at time trial bikes...Yikes and they cost about $20,000...let's have everyone on Schwinns!

Again who cares what other sports do.....they certainly don't give a toss about track and distance running....

[jazzcyclist]

And cycling... look at time trial bikes...Yikes and they cost about $20,000...let's have everyone on Schwinns!

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?

Again who cares what other sports do.....they certainly don't give a toss about track and distance running....

The IAAF cared enough to make certain tracks illegal.

[gh]

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