Following a breakthrough in shoe design, the IAAF might have to start regulating footwear. We asked the best runners in the world for their two cents. t won’t be news to anyone who follows the sport, but Nike Air VaporMax Dames professional distance running has recently been beset by a peculiar dilemma involving performance-enhancing footwear. “I actually think Nike Air Vapormax Womens we’re going to have asterisks on all the results that are like AV and BV—Before Vaporfly,” former New Nike Air Max 90 Femme York Road Runners President Mary Wittenberg said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. “It’s insane. Without making any judgment about it, it’s just Adidas Superstar Womens a fact.”“The shoes don’t run. It is the person who is running. So I don’t mind Adidas NMD Donne about the shoes. Many people are asking about what kind of shoes Nike are using. I don’t know. I don’t have a clue about it. I know Nike Internationalist Femme my shoes are Adidas and I am comfortable with it.”

Quick primer for those who have lived in blissful ignorance: In 2016Adidas NMD Dames , unbeknownst to the wider public, the top three finishers in the men’s marathon at the Rio Olympics were all Nike Air Max 95 Dames wearing a prototype Nike shoe that allegedly offered unprecedented benefits in running economy thanks to its unique fusion of Pebax foam with a curved, Nike Air Vapormax Femme carbon fiber plate. That prototype, of course, was an early iteration of the Nike Vaporfly Nike Air Max 90 Femme 4%—a shoe which has since become so ubiquitous on both the professional and amateur road racing scenes that it feels like we’re in the midst of some kind of contagion. The madness shows no signs of letting up, especially since both the men’s and Nike Air Max 90 Mujerwomen’s marathon world records have recently been smashed by runners wearing the shoe. Amateurs, meanwhile, have been Nike Internationalist Womens lopping minutes off their PBs.

Needless to say, this development has prompted questions of competitive fairness and performance Nike Air Max 90 Femme integrity. E.g.: Is it really tenable that some runners should be allowed to compete in a shoe that confers a Nike Air Max 97 Femme proven four or five percent improvement in running economy, when other athletes, for reasons of contractual obligation, don’t have access to similar Nike Air Max 90 Womens Blue technology? Is Eliud Kipchoge’s Vaporfly-abetted marathon world record of 2:01:39 really more Nike Air Max 90 Mujer Negras Blancas impressive than Dennis Kimetto’s previous mark of 2:02:57, given that the latter (Adidas-sponsored) athlete didn’t benefit from this recent design breakthrough?