Super Spikes: Technological Advancement or Unfair Advantage?
by Melinda Burris
World speed records have been repeatedly smashed in the last two years by elite men and women competing in track events. The rash of new world records has prompted reengagement in a familiar debate over where the line is between innovation and the natural advancement of technology and what some have referred to derisively as “technology doping.”1 Nike, a company that has been embroiled in its fair share of controversy in the past, is once again front and center in the current dispute.
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The issue? Nike’s Vaporfly, sprint spiked shoes which have been worn by numerous winners since they were unveiled in 2019. In fact, “31 of the 36 top finishers at the six biggest marathons in the world”1 in 2019 were wearing — you guessed it, the Nike Vaporfly.
An Unfair Advantage or Simply Technological Advancement?
Now, current and former athletes as well as coaches and other leaders in the sport are voicing their opinions as to whether the shoes and their construction give competitors who otherwise (in their opinion) would not be winning medals, much less breaking records, an unfair advantage that amounts to cheating and threatens to ruin the reputation of track and field by putting the very credibility of wins in the highest echelon of the sport in doubt.
Olympic gold medalist Karsten Warholm, winner of the 400m hurdle event in Tokyo, complained about Rai Benjamin, the man Warholm had just outrun, taking the gold to Benjamin’s silver medal placement. Warholm claimed the Nike Air Zoom Maxfly sneakers Benjamin wore in the race had given him an unfair advantage — even though Warholm outran Benjamin to claim the gold.
Warholm soon gave his unvarnished opinion about Nike’s new shoe sensation. Complaining about the foam padding in the shoe, Warholm declared, “I don’t see why you should put anything beneath a sprinting shoe.” He elaborated, asserting, “In middle distance I can understand it because of the cushioning. If you want cushioning, you can put a mattress there. But if you put a trampoline, I think it’s bullsh*t, and I think it takes credibility away from our sport.”
Usain Bolt, a sensation at the 2016 Olympics for his record-breaking performances on the track, is also not a fan of Nike’s newest innovation. Bolt, who wore Pumas throughout his career, contends that the new Nike shoes in effect adjust the spikes to such an extent that those who wear the shoes have an advantage that a competitor who isn’t wearing the same shoes cannot match, no matter what their natural abilities or training.
Bolt claims that when he first heard about the shoes and that World Athletics had approved their use in competition, he “couldn’t believe that this is what we have gone to…that we are really adjusting the spikes to a level where it’s now giving athletes an advantage to run even faster.” Calling the decision to allow the shoes “laughable” Bolt argued, “It’s weird and unfair for a lot of athletes because I know that in the past [shoe companies] actually tried and the governing body said ‘No, you can’t change the spikes.’”
However, one doesn’t have to look far to see there is a definite divide in opinion on this issue among competitors. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a two-time Olympic gold winner who happens to be a native of Jamaica like Bolt, was wearing a pair of Nike Air Zoom Maxfly shoes when she “clocked the fastest 100m time in 33 years on June 5 in Kingston with a career-best 10.63 seconds.”2
Unlike Bolt, Fraser-Pryce defends the use of the spikes, arguing that the unprecedented results some runners are achieving while wearing Nike’s latest offering are the result of “the combination of both — having good products and good runners combined.” This pairing, Fraser-Pryce argues, “makes for a very good end-product.”
Fraser-Pryce also hastens to add that the many hours of training she and her coach had done to prepare for events was an important variable that also had to be factored in when examining the reasons for her success. As she put it, “You can give the spikes to somebody else and they’ll probably not do the same things that I’ve done, so I’m not counting myself out of the hard work me and my coach has [sic] put in,” Fraser-Pryce told Reuters.
World Athletics Is Re-evaluating Its Decision to Allow the Shoes in Competition
As discussed previously, the shoes have been the subject of controversy since they were released in 2019. Despite protests, World Athletics approved the shoe for use in competition, including the 2021 Olympic Games. Now, faced with records that had been the standard for decades being repeatedly broken by participants wearing the Nike spikes, World Athletics has released a statement declaring it is reviewing its decision and has appointed a team to investigate how “to set parameters to achieve a balance between innovation, competitive advantage and availability of the products.”2
The debate is unlikely to end soon. For many, objections to the use of the shoes are not rooted in disapproval of seeing the sport embrace technology. Madeleine Kelley, a runner, and a writer for Running Magazine Canada, argues that the sport should applaud technological advancements that bring attention its way. The concern, according to Kelley, is that for athletes competing at the top tier, the slightest edge can make all the difference. In the spirit of fairness, there must be some way of ensuring that all competitors, not just the ones with huge endorsements, have access to cutting edge equipment. The playing field must be even.
References:
- Ernest, M. (5 August 2021). Nike’s Superhuman Maxfly Track Shoes Create Olympics Controversy.
- Raynor, K. (19 July 2021). Advances in Spike Technology Are Laughable and Unfair, Says Bolt.
- Kelley, M. (19 February 2021). Why Super Spikes Aren’t Ruining Track and Field.
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