Please find my translation of an interview given by the French runner (3 Olympics medals, 5 ER titles) after the records set by Cheptegei and Gidey (sorry if there are mistakes in the translation)
"How do you feel after seeing the two world records broken on Wednesday evening in Valencia?
It's good, it's going to serve as an electroshock. At some point, people have to realize that it's not normal. Let all the world records be broken thanks to the new technology, then we'll be able to do something about it. Just like natation did, by removing the wetsuits about ten years ago. There were records in every race. I know that you have to live with the times, evolve with technological progress, but this is not sport. I don't recognize myself in that kind of athletics.
Why not?
For me, "athletics" means surpassing oneself, training hard...
But Joshua Cheptegei and Letesenbet Gidey train very hard, don't they?
Yes, of course, but their times don't mean anything anymore! We can no longer have references to the great champions of the past. These are "new generation" times, as if athletics had started two or three years ago, with carbon blades in the shoes. It's obvious. Me, I didn't vibrate on Wednesday in front of these world records. No thrill, no "This is a crazy thing, go for it!". Nothing. Cheptegei, his personal best in 10,000 m, was 26'48'', he couldn't even hold a Bekele's ankle. With today's technology, Bekele would have done 25'30''!
And I'm not talking about light guidance: that's a good thing, like the passage from the ash track to the tartan track. I'm talking about the Nike spikes. The propulsion generated is not natural, you gain foot immediately. Some say you can gain 3 seconds per kilometer on a "10 000"! Our sport is in danger. What are our federations doing? I don't blame Cheptegei or any runner.
Yet World Athletics has imposed new rules on shoes, right?
But these measures are a joke! It's just an adaptation to the shoes already released at Nike.
You are under contract with Adidas. Would you have had the same speech if you were paid by Nike?
I would have said the same thing. I've never had a boss, I'm a free person. I blame the athletes for not saying anything. Do they think they're making progress? But they lie to themselves! Everyone knows what shoes bring. There is no more fairness. You have to tell the truth."