WSJ Claims Kipchoge's Alphafly shoe is/was LEGAL, BBC says it was not - LEGAL version will be ready for Olympics

The old shoe was legal and the new shoe is legal. There is no confusion.

If you are asking would the old shoe Kipchoge ran in with the three plates be legal from the 30th April, then the answer would be no.

Stack is measured for a size 8.5 and can be >40 for larger shoe sizes.

ex-runner wrote:

The old shoe was legal and the new shoe is legal. There is no confusion.

If you are asking would the old shoe Kipchoge ran in with the three plates be legal from the 30th April, then the answer would be no.

Kipchoge's shoe had 1 plate, not 3.

moran112312 wrote:

Stack is measured for a size 8.5 and can be >40 for larger shoe sizes.

Does it say that in the rules, or you are guessing? If it's in the rules, that would be a huge loophole. I don't know, but I think most men have a shoe size larger than 8.5. I'm at 11.5-12 at 5'10".

zzzz wrote:

moran112312 wrote:

Stack is measured for a size 8.5 and can be >40 for larger shoe sizes.

Does it say that in the rules, or you are guessing? If it's in the rules, that would be a huge loophole. I don't know, but I think most men have a shoe size larger than 8.5. I'm at 11.5-12 at 5'10".

Yes, it says that in the published rules (rule 5.5)

wejo wrote:

and allow the inclusion of rigid material like carbon fiber as long as it is on one continuous plane."

Does this mean these are illegal?

Some of my 8th grade track times need annulled.

Amazing that you literally have no connections in the running industry to tell you the truth about how many plates or what the stack height was of the shoes used in the Ineos Challenge. But I digress ....

No journalist measured the stack height of the shoes Kipchoge wore. So the 50mm stack height was a guess. And “journalists” just kept reporting what one person guessed. Do you think you could tell the difference between 45 and 50 mm from a photo without a true reference to measure size? Very easy explanation.

Also, you can’t measure the stack height from the outside of the shoe. Look at the rules to show you how and where they measure from. The foam could come up the sides higher to cup the outside of your foot and be higher.

I wouldn't take errors in the main stream press too seriously with respect to athletics.

Check out this CBC article below. Notice they classified it under baseball! The caption says Kipchoge went sub-2 in the Vaporfly (not the alphafly).

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/nike-shoe-rattling-running-world-as-technology-credited-for-record-times-1.5446517

From the wording in the BBC report it appears they're saying Kipchoge's shoes were illegal because they were prototypes, not because of anything technical.

We don't know the specs of the midsole Kipchoge wore but we do know that the patent for a Nike shoe had more than one plate...if the Alphafly Kipchoge wore is the same that's being released...that's very bad. He was full of running afterwards when he should have been lying on the ground. He could have run a good minute and change faster at least. It's either the shoes are crazy good or he's on PEDs...we know Kipchoge is not over 2 minutes better than Haile in the marathon. If it wasn't for his one global title on the track where would his reputation have been. He should not be this good.

Somehow I still don't think anyone is going to show up on the track with them and run a 26 flat. 10,000. Winner will be wearing good old regular LD spikes with a half-length plate and minimal other material, bouncy or not.

Speaking of which, plates have been curved for decades. Do they now violate the "in-plane" rule?

Highsnobiety (and Hypebeast for that matter) are not in any way reliable sources. The amount of errors on both of those sites is staggering.

Runner's world seems to clarify:

"When speaking about Kipchoge’s Alphafly, Bignell told Runner’s World it would have been legal under the new WA regulations. The 40mm stack height regulation is based on a men’s size 8.5, Kipchoge runs in a 10.5."

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/gear/shoes/a30777696/nike-alphafly/#location-choice

jeff's dengatorade wrote:

Runner's world seems to clarify:

"When speaking about Kipchoge’s Alphafly, Bignell told Runner’s World it would have been legal under the new WA regulations. The 40mm stack height regulation is based on a men’s size 8.5, Kipchoge runs in a 10.5."

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/gear/shoes/a30777696/nike-alphafly/#location-choice

How much difference in stack height would going from an 8.5 to 10.5?

Should be almost nothing right?

Nike's math will say that 8.5 to 10.5 is about 20% in size so additional 20% in height.

jeff's dengatorade wrote:

Runner's world seems to clarify:

"When speaking about Kipchoge’s Alphafly, Bignell told Runner’s World it would have been legal under the new WA regulations. The 40mm stack height regulation is based on a men’s size 8.5, Kipchoge runs in a 10.5."

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/gear/shoes/a30777696/nike-alphafly/#location-choice

Kipchoge’s shoe size is us8.5

ShilohDoesntCare wrote:

We don't know the specs of the midsole Kipchoge wore but we do know that the patent for a Nike shoe had more than one plate...if the Alphafly Kipchoge wore is the same that's being released...that's very bad. He was full of running afterwards when he should have been lying on the ground. He could have run a good minute and change faster at least. It's either the shoes are crazy good or he's on PEDs...we know Kipchoge is not over 2 minutes better than Haile in the marathon. If it wasn't for his one global title on the track where would his reputation have been. He should not be this good.

You’re right, Kipchoge is not 2 minutes faster, but 4 minutes faster.

zzzz wrote:

moran112312 wrote:

Stack is measured for a size 8.5 and can be >40 for larger shoe sizes.

Does it say that in the rules, or you are guessing? If it's in the rules, that would be a huge loophole. I don't know, but I think most men have a shoe size larger than 8.5. I'm at 11.5-12 at 5'10".

most marathon runners probably do not have. The average height of world's 100 best marathon runners is 171 centimeters. They are not tall. So why would they have canoe feet like basketball players have. According to history channel the average mens shoe size in the United States is 10.5. In some other countries the average shoe size is smaller. In the UK it is UK size 9 and especially the Asian countries have people with smaller feet. As marathon runners are smaller than average men, their shoe size is smaller. That US 8.5 could, in fact, be pretty close to the average size of best marathon runners' shoe size.

BBC commies want to outlaw and regulate everything. Nice job in your supporting role.