In addition to making sure the athletes know the rules of a clean sport and testing and sanctioning those who violate the anti-doping rules, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has now expanded their responsibilities to ensure that no athlete will be able to benefit from their ‘shoe selection.’
In their X account, the AIU stated that guidelines have been set to ‘regulate and standardize’ footwear.
👟 Shoes have the potential to impact the playing field in athletics. For instance, innovative designs with specific features might give wearers an edge in performance. The rules are set to ensure that no athlete gains advantage just from their choice of shoes. #ProtectIntegrity pic.twitter.com/YrRTXy9lfC
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) December 7, 2023
Running shoes and anti-doping
Running shoes have always been a contentious issue in athletics because, despite the fact that everyone agrees that their cutting-edge technology gives track and field athletes an advantage over their rivals, no one can truly define what constitutes an unfair performance boost for the feet.
Where should the line be drawn? What materials aren’t allowed to be incorporated into the shoe? In cases of marathons, where the number of runners could go as high as hundreds of thousands, who will inspect the shoes they’re wearing?
The gray area has been lingering in athletics for a while now, and although the governing body for track and field, the World Athletics (previously known as the International Association of Athletics Federations), has established footwear regulations, the shoe companies have also innovated their technology.
Several of their regulations included prohibiting the use of development shoes (shoes still in development by a company), bespoke shoes (shoes made specifically for an athlete and not sold), up to eleven spikes, and stack heights no higher than 20 mm.
A case example of shoes being banned
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour barrier and set a world record when he finished the Vienna marathon in just 1:59:40, an average speed of 21.18 km per hour . He was wearing Nike’s prototype shoe, Alphafly, at the time, a high-stack shoe that has a cutting-edge midsole. According to peer-reviewed research, the shoe provided a 4% gain in running efficiency and an estimated 3.4 percent increase in speed.
After finding out that the shoe contained technology designed to deliver greater energy return and speed, the World Athletics banned the athletes from using it. And Kipchoge’s timewas disqualified for the world record.
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Cover Photo: Wikipedia
