Watch how Nike’s Vaporfly shoes give runners an unfair advantage
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Video Credit: Rumble
A controversy over Nike’s hyper-advanced Vaporfly shoes could boost their sales.
Some people claim that this shoes give runners an unfair advantage.
A working group at governing body World Athletics has been examining Nike’s hyper-advanced Vaporfly shoes for months and trying to figure out what to do with them.
The hyper-advanced Vaporfly shoes have been used by Kenya’s runner Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei who performed amazingly last year.
Kipchoge became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours wearing the Vaporfly shoes while Kosgei broke Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old women’s marathon world record wearing the same shoes.
After this, some said that the shoes give runners an unfair advantage and should be banned.
Nike’s hyper-advanced Vaporfly shoes give runners an unfair advantage as foam-and-carbon sole used in the shoes make sure less energy is lost of the runners.
Geoff Burns, a kinesiology researcher and pro-runner, told Business Insider: “The runner runs the race, but the shoe enables him or her to run it faster for the same effort or ability.”
“So for two athletes of equal ability on race day, the one with the shoes is going to beat the one without the shoes.”
However, it is believed that this controversy could boost Nike’s sales.
Matt Powell, senior sports industry adviser at NPD Group, said: “Controversy is good for sales.
Nike has not made a lot of pairs here, so (there is) no real financial impact.
Amateur runners can still run in these shoes.”
Carol Spieckerman of consultancy Spieckerman Retail said: “On the surface, banning a shoe for providing exceptional performance wouldn’t mar Nike’s reputation.
The controversy could easily increase general sales for the Vaporfly.”
Nike’s hyper-advanced Vaporfly shoes have not been banned yet but a decision can be made within a few weeks.
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