&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Speed or Science? Super shoes ignite backlash against athletes, experts call it ‘tech doping’")
Record-breaking runs fuel backlash against carbon-plated “super-shoes,” with critics calling them performance-enhancing as it gives a spring in their step, allowing runners to move faster, while using less energy. The recent backlash came after Kenya's Sabastian Sawe made history this week with the first sub–two–hour marathon in race conditions wearing the ADIZERO Adios Pro Evo 3, one of the lightest racing shoes ever made.
Research indicates that super shoes can boost running efficiency by up to four per cent, cutting minutes rather than seconds from an athlete's finishing times. However, as the technology advances, experts are increasingly worried that these super shoes could amount to a form of 'technological doping'.
Shaun Creighton, an Olympian long–distance runner turned sports lawyer at Moulis Legal, told the Daily Mail, "We should be clear that modern marathon super shoes are performance-enhancing devices in a very real sense. I genuinely do not believe a sub–two–hour marathon would have been achieved without super shoes. The regulatory task now is to keep tightening the technical boundaries just enough to preserve the marathon as a contest of human performance first, and of shoe design a distant second."
Backlash initiated in 2019
The debate gained momentum in 2019 when Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to complete a marathon in under two hours. Critics questioned the legitimacy of the feat, pointing to his use of the newly introduced Nike Alphafly.
Sports scientist Ross Tucker even described the Alphafly as “the shoe that broke running.” Nike claimed the footwear offered a 3.4 per cent speed advantage, enough to translate into a two- to three-minute gain over a marathon, potentially turning a strong performance into a record-breaking one.
Trending Stories
)
The Royals enter the Doctor Who universe: King Charles and Queen Camilla beam into Commonwealth Games in TARDIS
)
Mumbai's elite clubs under scanner: FDA suspends food licences of five iconic clubs over serious hygiene violations
)
'First dumb AI': Meta AI blocks Indian PM Modi's video in his own country, allows abuse ads and deletes livelihoods without explanation
)
Assam floods 2026: Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt and other Bollywood celebrities extend support to affected families
)
India avoids higher US tariff, secures lower 10% rate. Here's how
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Meet top 5 batters with most Test runs in IND vs SL
)
He predicted COVID-19 and 2008 economic crisis, was labeled fearmonger. Now he has another dire warning
)
69th Grammy Awards: BTS decline music submissions after Recording Academy introduces Asian Pop category
)
Flesh Impact: Dakota Johnson transforms as Marilyn Monroe for Maggie Gyllenhaal's short film | See pics
)
Alert for torrential rains across Jammu division; flash flood risk over next five days
)
28-year-old woman PhD scholar dies of electrocution on Panjab University campus
)
Trump pops THIS, then appears to doze off at Lindsey Graham’s funeral: Watch
)
5 Overs, 5 Wickets and ZERO Runs: Justin Greaves bowls world record spell against Pakistan| WATCH
)
Cat’s bizarre reaction before Japan earthquake goes viral: Did it detect the tremors?
)
3.6mn people track 24hr Qantas flight from Melbourne to Toulouse: Pilot shifts, fuel tank and other details
)
Commonwealth Games 2026 Day 7: India's full schedule, medal events and match timings
)
After BTS' Grammys boycott, HYBE breaks silence: 'This is not a boycott at the company level'
)
Was stone-laden truck planted at Jantar Mantar before CJP march? Delhi Police reveals truth about ‘conspiracy’ claim
)
NEET Protests riddled with misinformation? Delhi Police blocks 480 Pakistan-based handles spreading 'fake news' since Operation Sindoor
)
You are a 'Naked Official' in China if you hold high posts and have children or spouse abroad. What about India?
)
'Why so much hate?' Netanyahu breaks silence on New York visit amid Mamdani's arrest threat
)
North Korean colonel killed by firing squad for stealing grain as 'deeply shaken' officers watched
)
Russia-Ukraine War: Putin's big warning amid Ukraine war escalation
)
Trump says Iranian school bombing photos could be AI-generated - 'I don’t think...'
)
Giant iceberg flips violently near Greenland exposing its underside - 'I didn't know they could do that'
)
‘Dangerous escalation’: US, Saudi strike Iran-backed group in Iraq; at least 20 killed
)
'Broader struggle for democracy...': Greta Thunberg joins Indian students protest in London - What she said
)
Netanyahu tells Trump Israel may have 'no choice' but to strike Iran again: Report
)
Iran launches first attack on US forces since Trump halted strikes, missiles intercepted
)
‘Unparliamentary language’: Rahul Gandhi sparks uproar in Lok Sabha over ‘idiot’ remark
)
Watch a SpaceX rocket crash into the moon at 8,750 km/hr on THIS day
)
₹16 crore Dehradun bridge approach road collapses just 17 days after inauguration, repaired within 12 hours
)
Assam flood toll rises to 75 as seven drown in Sivasagar; CM Himanta announces ₹9 lakh aid for victims' families
)
Jennifer Lopez's ex-husband Ojani Noa claims he confronted Sean 'Diddy' Combs over alleged affair
The Nike Alphafly was quickly banned after World Athletics introduced new regulations. However, manufacturers soon developed a new generation of shoes designed to comply with, or narrowly work around, these rules. Current regulations state that shoes cannot have a midsole thicker than 40 mm or include more than one carbon-fibre plate.
In response, brands have produced race-legal models with a “stack height” that sits just below the permitted limit. These innovations have delivered rapid and significant improvements in performance for elite athletes.
