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Business Daily: Tokyo Olympics: Battle of the super shoes

Bulletins

12/07/2021 GMT

Tokyo Olympics: Battle of the super shoes

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Tokyo Olympics: Battle of the super shoes

Have the so-called super spikes become the key factor for success in athletics?

As we head towards the postponed Tokyo Olympics, the world’s eyes will be on athletics. But huge controversy is brewing over a new type of super shoe which has led to a recent surge in track and field records. Ivana Davidovic asks whether runners' ability is becoming less and less important for success on the track? And what does that do the sport?

US Olympian Mason Ferlic is worried that this is creating a division between the haves and the have nots and thinks that World Athletics should pander less to big brands and tighten regulation on running shoes.
Canadian Olympian Madeleine Kelly talks about the unprecedented situation when rival brands allowed their sponsored athletes to run in Nike's super spikes, which are widely regarded as ahead of the pack at the moment.

But they are not the only ones. Technology used to assist disabled athletes is now propelling their able-bodied counterparts to new heights. Running coach and former World Athletics official Peter Thompson - who also worked in shoe development for Nike and Hoka - says we are nowhere near the limit to where materials can go. He also sees these super shoes as "mechanical doping." While professor of sports innovation Mike Caine warns that to limit innovation would be a commercial disaster for any sport, as viewers and sponsors are attracted by tumbling records.

(Photo: Male sprinter starts from blocks in athletics stadium. Credit: Getty Images)

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