Confirmed: the Vaporfly They have marked a before and after in high competition. Although probably not in the way the maker of him would have liked. World Athletics has announced a modification in its rules when it comes to wearing sports shoes, as a result of the suspicious cases in which the aforementioned Nike model was always present, which will become effective this year. goodbye to technological doping.
The Nike Vaporfly: the shoes of discord
We told you just a few days ago. The World Athletics organization had decided to open an investigation after suspecting that Nike's Vaporfly could be helping top-level athletes to improve their marks. Until now, the rules in this regard have always been clear in this regard: shoes must never be designed in such a way that they "provide athletes with assistance or unfair advantage«. And it looks like these Nikes did.
Numerous reported cases suggested that they could be considered technological doping, after the registration of new world records in the men's and women's marathons, as well as a recent study by the running app and social network Strava (in which it was verified that the users who used these shoes -they are relatively accessible, with a price of 275 euros- were on average faster than the rest).
Such was the situation that World Athletics began a study in order to assess whether more specific standards had to be established in the use of this sports garment and the results have just been made public: we have new rules and will be effective for the next few months.
What has changed?
Without going into too technical or sporting details, we are going to try to clarify in a simple way and by points the basic aspects that have been modified and what must be taken into account from now on for high competition:
No more custom mods
The shoes must have been on sale for at least four months. This means that it will not be possible to run with prototypes or special orders, it will always have to be with shoes available on the market. The only modifications allowed are cosmetic and custom adjustments for medically justified reasons.
watch out for measurements
The sole cannot be thicker than 40 millimeters. Be careful, the Vaporfly have a maximum height of 31 mm, so as long as they have not been modified, they would not be a problem.
And what about the plates?
Inside can't find more than one rigid plate (regardless of material). This plate may be in more than one area, being sectioned by several parts, but they must always be placed in relation to a plane, and never stacked or parallel (something that could create a rebound or impulse effect).
If it is a shoe with nails (special for athletics tracks), the sole may have an extra plate (or any other mechanism) to attach the nails to the shoe itself, but the final sole may not exceed 30 millimeters thick.
Later revisions
At the end of the test or competition, the referees may request footwear to confirm or rule out any type of suspicion about it.
When will the new rules be effective?
Starting next April 30 From this same 2020 these regulations come into force, so yes, it does affect the next Tokyo Olympics. The president of World Athletics has spoken precisely about this great sporting event:
I believe these new rules strike the right balance of offering certainty to athletes and manufacturers as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while also addressing concerns that have been raised about shoe technology. If there is evidence that we need to adjust these rules, we reserve the right to do so to protect our sport.