Athletics was emerging from an epidemic of world records in middle and distance races. Since the start of the Tokyo Olympics, it is the turn of other disciplines to be affected. What if the contaminants were shoes with “magic” properties, incorporating carbon blades and foam and providing their wearers with energy returns with each stride?
The list of incredible performances at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo makes you dizzy. On Wednesday August 4, a new world record was broken in the women’s 400m hurdles by more than 40 hundredths by the American Sydney McLaughlin (51 seconds 46). The second, the American Dalilah Muhammad, also achieves the second best performance in history (51 seconds 58).
The day before, in the same discipline, the Norwegian Karsten Warholm had become the first man under 46 seconds. A few hours later, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 200 meters in 21 seconds and 53 hundredths. The second best performance ever, behind the controversial Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record 21 seconds and 34 hundredths, set at the Seoul Games in 1988.
On Saturday July 31, during her first 100-meter coronation, she had already approached twelve hundredths of the American’s other world record: 10 seconds and 61 hundredths, yet another best performance of all time. The next day, an unknown, the Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs, had become Olympic champion of the 100 meters by lowering by twice the European record (9 seconds 84, then 9 seconds 80).
Energy storage and return
Although one cannot attribute this or that performance solely to the fact that athletes wear new generation shoes, one thing is certain: they invade the sprint after having established themselves in endurance. We saw, for example, the latest Nike model at the feet of the two Americans in the 400m hurdles, the Jamaicans in the 100 and 200m, the Italian Jacobs and even the triple jumper Yulimar Rojas, who erased the record in Tokyo. world (15.67 m). According to Pierre-Jean Vazel, athletics trainer, many athletes have “Procured before the Games. “
Interviewed in 2020 by The world, Wolfgang Potthast, member of the biomechanics laboratory of the Deutsche Sporthochschule in Cologne, described the contributions of shoes then used almost exclusively by middle and cross-country skiers: “Lightness, cushioning, energy storage and return, flexural rigidity. “
“They work with a foam cushion technology, interposed between the sole and the carbon plate, details Pierre-Jean Vazel. The thickness of the sole is very high, we gain almost two centimeters of leg length. This causes the foot to swing forward. The knees rise more easily. “
World bronze medalist over 200 meters in 2003 in Paris, ex-sprinter Muriel Hurtis has been impressed since the start of the Olympics by “Very high level performance. “” Improving technology means that there may be fewer questions about these latest performances “, she advances, saying she wants “Believe in a healthy sport” – especially concerning an athlete like Thompson who “Did not beat his records overnight – rather than display “A suspicious state of mind”.
“Athletics evolves”
Former French record holder in the 100m, Ronald Pognon remembers that in 2005 his equipment supplier “Already working on these carbon technologies”. For Pierre-Jean Vazel, the world of sprinting will have to get used to this major change, which he compares to the revolution of the synthetic track in 1968. “This allows you to gain almost a tenth over 100 meters. We will have new references, he explains. Records were erased in the 1960s. In Mexico City, Jim Hines broke Bob Hayes’ 100 meters and yet no one considers him to be superior to him. “
Three-time champion of France in the 5,000 meters, Liv Westphal attended the debates which followed the introduction in her specialty of the first Nike shoes, the “Vaporfly. “In early 2020, after having banned them initially, the International Athletics Federation (World athletics) had authorized these“ record shoes ”from the American equipment manufacturer, while freezing innovations until the Games.
Will the latest performances revive opposition? Norwegian Warholm, equipped with “Great shoes” with “A carbon blade” but no foam, proclaims it: “I never run on air. If it’s to put a trampoline (under the sole), that’s bullshit and it takes away credibility from my sport. “
For Westphal, the process is inevitable: “It is logical that these shoes also arrive in the sprint and even in the competitions [de saut]. Since all the brands have started doing it, it has become commonplace and this is what will happen for the other disciplines. ” Ronald Pognon also agrees: “Athletics is changing. ” Just like the personal and world records that were broken in Tokyo.