For several months, many records have been falling in athletics. The latest is that of the Norwegian Karsten Warholm who became the first man to go under 46 seconds on the 400 hurdles. This feat was surely helped by the appearance of new spikes in short distances, in the wake of what has happened in middle distance for two years and on the road for five years.
A bolt from the blue ! The Norwegian Karsten Warholm won the title of Olympic champion in the 400-meter hurdles on Tuesday August 3, destroying his own world record (45 sec 94), set on July 2 in Oslo. Second in the race, the American Rai Benjamin also set an insane time (46 sec 17), achieving the second best performance of all time.
In the furnace of the Japanese summer (around 33 degrees and 60% humidity), the Brazilian Alison dos Santos even took the 3e place in 46 sec 72, better than the former world record of the American Kevin Young (46 sec 78), who had held from 1992 to this summer, and who has now taken a hell of a time.
A rain of records
For several months, records have been linked in athletics. In October 2019, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to run the marathon in less than 2 hours, while in the men’s middle distance, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegeï broke the 5,000m records. in August 2020 (12’35”36) and the 10,000m in October 2020 (26’11”00). On the women’s side, the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey and the Dutch Sifan Hassan also surpassed themselves in 10,000m. Hassan was the first to strike on June 6, beating the discipline record (29’06”82), Gidey answered him two days later (29’01”03). The Ethiopian had already improved the world record in the 5,000m in October 2020 (14’06”62).
For many observers, these feats owe nothing to chance, but to a new generation of shoes. These athletes wear the new Vaporfly from Nike. These ultralight shoes are equipped with a carbon blade in the sole which, combined with the foam, restores energy with each press, a bit like the effect of a spring.
“I do not know by how much, but it is sure that I would have run much faster (with the new shoes), undoubtedly below 9 sec 50”, thus assured the British daily The Guardian the legend of the Usain Bolt track.
A lively debate
Studies have validated an efficiency gain of around 4% for the new generation of road shoes, used since 2016. For the middle distance pointe shoes (reserved for the track), which appeared discreetly in the form of prototypes in 2019, their use is too recent, the sample too small (the lead is a commercial “niche”) and the good scientific method not yet defined to carry out conclusive tests.
Few athletes deny the phenomenon but most like to remind that their progress would not exist without their daily work. “We must accept the innovations of new companies, technologies. It is about comfort to achieve our dreams”, estimated the world record holder of the 5,000 and 10,000 m Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei.
For some champions, however, this new technology is questionable. “It’s athletics with springs (…) I would be for prohibiting them”, ignited on Twitter the Spanish long jumper Eusebio Caceres after tests. “They are very difficult to use. My way of running and jumping has changed so that I can see their usefulness, and I have not managed to take advantage of them,” he analyzes, joining the rumors about the instability of these new tools, which can push athletes to stay on their traditional pairs before their major objective.
If you can’t find the bounce point, the support kills you. Very, very difficult to use. The way I run and jump has changed to be able to notice its usefulness, and I have not been able to take advantage of what I notice in short. I would love to keep using them, but a month away from the games
– Eusebio Cáceres (@Eusebio_Caceres) June 19, 2021
Others do not hesitate to speak of technological doping. Under contract with Nike, French runner Liv Westphal has been criticized after her French record for the 10 km road, broken in December 29, 2019 (31:15). “For some, my performance is discredited, but I was ranked 5e European cross country, with pointe shoes and beating girls who had already run the 10 km in 31 min 30 s, she defends herself. It is not a miracle shoe. To speak of technological doping is absurd. It is the athlete who produces the effort, ”she told Le Monde newspaper.
The athlete also assures that these shoes allow her to relieve these back problems. Spanish pole vaulter Didac Salas also praises their health benefits for athletes. “With each step, my Achilles tendons have less tension and I feel less pain. Thanks to them, I force less on my calves”, he told the French daily.
Other records?
While the record for the 400-meter hurdles has just fallen, more incredible times are expected in Tokyo. Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey and Dutch Sifan Hassan could continue their head-to-head, while the 800m and 1500m records may also be in jeopardy.
As for the 100 m, he did not fall in the Olympic final won by the Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs, even if he won the race in 9 sec 80, setting the new European record. But for Stéphane Diagana, world champion in the 400 m hurdles in 1997 (in 47”70), it is only a matter of time: “Bolt’s records, we did not see who could beat them”, a he estimated with Ouest-France. And it’s when there will be two, three guys who are going to pass them that we will say to ourselves: OK, there, the shoes have something to do with it “.
Asked by the same daily, Stéphane Caristan, Eurosport consultant during the Tokyo Olympics, for his part drew a parallel with the polyurethane wetsuits which had revolutionized swimming between 2008 and 2010, before being banned: “In swimming, wetsuits were very quickly withdrawn. There, it will last, we are not on an epiphenomenon. With all due respect for swimming, the wetsuits touched a minimum of people. There, there are already millions of ‘Sunday’ runners who have equipped themselves with these materials, and it is a real economic phenomenon “.
For the moment authorized
Caught up in speed, World Athletics ended up legislating by defining the playing field but without whistling for the moment, the end of recess. These shoes were licensed in Tokyo. Almost all the existing models respect the new rules, namely a heel which must not exceed 20 mm thick (sprints and jumps, except the triple), 25 mm (long distance and middle distance, triple jump) or 40 mm ( road).
In the wake of Nike, the other major equipment manufacturers have released their own pairs and have embarked on the race for “magic” shoes, most of the time by combining a rigid plate and a latest generation foam.
The battle for brands remains difficult to follow, even for insiders: 201 spikes (track shoes) are included on the latest World Athletics “compliance” list, which lists the authorized models (marketed or prototypes). “It’s blurry, it’s an almost mystical thing, we no longer know who is wearing what, what is in the shoe. We are moving towards an individualization of the shoe. At the beginning, I thought analyze most of the races to find out who was wearing what, I gave up, there are too many references, things are going too fast “, notes Vincent Guyot, student-researcher at Insep specializing in the field.
With AFP
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