After all, most of us live in a capitalistic society driven by innovation and competition. Let Reebok, Brooks, Saucony, Hoka, etc come up with something to rival the latest Nike technology?
After all, most of us live in a capitalistic society driven by innovation and competition. Let Reebok, Brooks, Saucony, Hoka, etc come up with something to rival the latest Nike technology?
The current IAAF rule says it needs to be fair:
"Athletes may compete barefoot or with footwear on one or both feet.
The purpose of shoes for competition is to give protection and
stability to the feet and a firm grip on the ground. Such shoes,
however, must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair
assistance or advantage. Any type of shoe used must be reasonably
available to all in the spirit of the universality of athletics.
Note (i): Adapting a shoe to suit the characteristic of a particular
athlete’s foot is permitted if made in accordance with the general
principles of these Rules.
69 RULES 142, 143
IAAF COMPETITION RULES 2018-2019
Note (ii): Where evidence is provided to the IAAF that a type of shoe
being used in competition does not comply with the Rules or the
spirit of them, it may refer the shoe for study and if there is
non-compliance may prohibit such shoes from being used in
competition.
I think the Nike Vaporfly variants currently have an unfair advantage over other shoes, so they violate this rule. Someone needs to supply to the IAAF "for study" Nike's own evidence that it's not just the carbon plate and special foam, but the extreme curved shape of the plate that provides the unfair advantage. See the Outside article on Nike's study of plate shapes in the below link. Since Nike hold patent to that extreme curved shape, Nike needs to either open up that patent to other shoe companies for free, so that "type of shoe must be reasonably available to all in the spirit of the universality of athletics", or that shape in the plate, which only Nike is able to use right now because of the patent, should be prohibited. Right now the other carbon plated shoes don't seem to be able to match the Vaporflies because the magic seems to be in the shape of that plate.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2400514/nike-vaporfly-carbon-plate-presentation
Nike's patent on the shape of that plate
"The spring plate may have an unloaded shape in which a front portion of the spring plate in a forefoot region is downwardly bent relative to a rear portion of the spring plate located rearward of the front portion.":
You clearly missed this earlier thread. https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9649562
I’m a D2 female runner. Our coach explicitly told us not to visit LetsRun forums.
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