Read the winner of this year’s Young Science Writer Award
Hasset Kifle receives his prize
Mark Lewis/Mark Lewis Photography
The world is moving forward at an unimaginable pace, with the rapid advancement of technology driving this bullet train into the unknown. The innate human need to constantly find the best solution has also spilled over into the world of sports, where technological advancements beg the question: how far is too far?
Running is an integral measure of our physical and mental capabilities. It is a sport that thrives on immense competition: athlete against athlete and athlete against time. It has also become a playground for the world’s biggest brands.
“Technological doping” is a term used to highlight the competitive advantages offered by high-tech sports equipment, and it has forced a notable shift in perspective on what it means to be an athlete. The top 10 fastest marathons for men and women were all run in the last seven years, except for Paula Radcliffe’s race in 2003, as were the top 10 half marathons.
Why is this the case? It’s, at least in part, because of the shoes – shoes so effective that they’ve been dubbed “super shoes.” Rigorous testing, in the laboratory and on the world stage, has clearly demonstrated how these shoes improve an athlete’s performance. Four factors are essential: the foam in the shoe’s midsole, a shock absorber that cushions the feet upon impact with the ground; a curved carbon fiber plate (a stiff insole in the midsole designed to increase the efficiency of each stride); total pile height – the amount of material between your foot and the ground; and the breathable “upper” covering the shoe, intended to keep the foot cool and dry. These different components work together to produce something lightweight, highly cushioned and flexible to maximize the energy returned to the athlete to propel them forward, while minimizing the amount of energy exerted by the person themselves.
Supershoes have been found to return 87% more energy compared to regular running shoes, significantly improving the runner’s efficiency and speed. They were first popularized in 2016 when Nike released the Nike Vaporfly, worn by the top three men in the 2016 Olympics marathon. Research, funded in part by Nike, showed that the Vaporfly can improve the efficiency with which oxygen is used in your body by 4%, compared to other marathon shoes. This means that a desired pace can be maintained for longer, resulting in a faster time.
However, shoes like the Vaporfly have also caused controversy, as a number of records have been broken by athletes wearing them. To combat this, the World Athletics governing body has put in place regulations on what features super shoes can have. The maximum stack height should not exceed 40 millimeters, for example, and shoes should not have more than one carbon plate.
Critics have also raised concerns that today’s athletes are not meeting the standards of the past because of the enormous advantage technology has given them. One proposed solution to this problem is to keep separate lists for technology-assisted records, but this begs the question: who is the main competitor, the athletes or the brands producing these innovative technologies?
There could also be psychological effects associated with super shoes, with athletes believing they need to wear them to run faster, thus becoming dependent on their shoes rather than focusing on what they could improve physically.
Of course, athletes want their names in the record books and people want to see records broken, especially in fast, exciting events like the 100 and 200 meters, which are full of big names like Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson. But will all this come at a cost?
When it comes down to it, running is the ultimate test of fitness, whether it’s the muscular strength in short sprints or the cardiovascular strength required in a marathon. It’s always a battle between mind and body that begins before the gunshot even goes off. Having competed at different distances, from 300 meters to 5 kilometers, and having trained with athletes who wear great shoes, it is important for me to have the ability to progress in the sport, but also for the sport to progress with me. If this results in a loss of credibility, then it seems the world has an important choice to make.
The Young Science Writer Award is run by the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW).
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