World Athletics Bans Nike Vaporfly Prototypes
World Athletics has announced new regulations on athlete footwear in the wake of controversy over Nike’s Vaporfly running shoes.
The shoes, which feature a carbon fibre plate inserted in the sole, were worn by Brigid Kosgei when she broke Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing women’s marathon record in Chicago in 2019, and a prototype Alphafly shoe was also worn by Eliud Kipchoge when he ran a marathon in under two hours in Vienna as part of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.
The World Athletics announcement means that, from 30th April 2020, any shoe must have been available for purchase on the open market, in store or online, for a period of four months before it can be used in competition.
If a shoe is not openly available to everyone, however, World Athletics says it will be deemed a prototype and will be banned – with the exception of shoes customised for purely aesthetic or medical reasons.
Meanwhile, the announcement also states that the soles of road shoes must be limited to 40mm, with track spikes limited to 30mm, meaning the Alphafly shoes worn by Kipchoge will be banned, however the Vaporfly shoes currently available for purchase will not.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “It is not our job to regulate the entire sports shoe market but it is our duty to preserve the integrity of elite competition by ensuring that the shoes worn by elite athletes in competition do not offer any unfair assistance or advantage. As we enter the Olympic year, we don’t believe we can rule out shoes that have been generally available for a considerable period of time, but we can draw a line by prohibiting the use of shoes that go further than what is currently on the market while we investigate further.
“I believe these new rules strike the right balance by offering certainty to athletes and manufacturers as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while addressing the concerns that have been raised about shoe technology. If further evidence becomes available that indicates we need to tighten up these rules, we reserve the right to do that to protect our sport.”
World Athletics says it will establish a new expert working group to “guide future research into shoe technology and to assess new shoes that emerge on the market.”
