‘Why wouldn’t you, if you can run faster?’: the unstoppable rise of the carbon-fibre super shoe

answersplease77, 2 months ago

for regular people the reason has always been $$ , but for sponsored athletes, it means we’ll keep seeing more and more world records in the future.

ThatWeirdGuy1001, 2 months ago

Yeah but at what point is that no longer human talent? Are there regulations on footwear for these records? If not what’s to stop someone from using the spring legs that can make you run a hell of a lot faster?

elbarto777, 2 months ago

It’s still human talent, though it should probably be its own category. Regular sports shoes, and enhanced shoes.

You can make music by singing. Or you could use a piano. It’s still human talent.

Kolanaki, 2 months ago

Why wouldn’t you run faster if you could?

Well, eventually I’d be going so fast, I’d disintegrate.

feedum_sneedson, 2 months ago

boingy

AdamEatsAss, 2 months ago

I could see them getting banned in pro racing at some point. Didn’t nike publish results that their shoes could get something like 3% faster race times for a marathon. For most people that wouldn’t matter but at an elite level it could become pay to win as the shoes get better. The same thing happened in swimming with low drag speedsuits.

bjorney, 2 months ago

The “Nike Vaporfly 4%” was the shoe - and it was 4% as the name implies

DreadPotato, 2 months ago

Because the price of these shoes is ridiculous and they don’t last as long as regular shoes. I’m probably also not running anywhere near fast or efficient enough to properly utilise the benefits of them properly.

fidodo, 2 months ago

The question wasn’t posed to you, it was a rhetorical question by an athlete in the context of racing.

eskimofry, 2 months ago

I will still answer as if it was asked to me.

zecg, 2 months ago

The Betteridge opening, a solid gambit.

Conyak, 2 months ago

I don’t run for speed really. I do it for heart health and just try to keep a steady pace for a longer amount of time. Still cool though.

lauha, 1 month ago

I run for my head’s sake.