The supershoes they are high -tech footwear that combine many small ones innovationslike i materials that make up the solethe type of chips or the best geometry. This combination is an engineered system with a precise purpose: Reduce the energy cost of the raceallowing athletes to maintain a higher speed longer. At the Paris Olympics, as well as at the Tokyo athletics World Championships, these racing shoes with showy shapes and colors were at the foot of the marathon runners and middle distance drivers. The situation closely recalls the disputes on the “supercostumi” that shocked swimming in 2009. Also in this case, technological innovation led to an improvement so clear of the performances to push the international federation to regulate its use, to ensure that the difference always face the athlete, and not only the shoe he wears.
What are the Supershoes or “Super Shoes”
The Super Shoes they started to make people talk about themselves for the first time around the 2019, When the Keniotes Elud Kipchoge And Brigid Kosgei They managed to beat the male and female record of the marathon respectively, wearing these shoes. Over time, they have been used by many professional runners and beyond. Have also been progressively produced in more segments commercial And, therefore, which can be purchased by anyone. The new shoes are essentially the result of a series of improvements made to the entire conformation of the product. So let’s try to make an overview of the specific changes introduced.
As for the sole, a Poliampo block elastomer and one carbon fiber plate, the latter subjected to a specific curvature. Other innovations have been introduced into the chips and in theinlaw which, specifically, have been designed using increasingly innovative and present materials such as light sponges And ultra-legging.
Probably, the best known example of this new conception of shoe is that of Nike Vaporfly 4%the first footwear to present the combination of light foam And stiff plate which allowed them, and to the subsequent models, to beat records and guarantee significantly better performance. It is necessary to specify that, by now, almost all the footwear brands have presented their own model of shoes on the market that combines the technologies just described.
As the performance of the runners help and when they use
In the years following the introduction of these innovations, the times recorded in the marathon by those who wore Supershoes are improved considerably up to 2% for men (translatable into 2,8 min less on the final time) and al 2.6% for women (4.3 min).
From the first tests in the laboratory, it emerged that the main reason for this evolution lies in the fact that the super shoes are able to Reduce the energy cost of the 4% race compared to the normal footwear previously used. This energy saving is directly responsible for the improvement of the racing speed, demonstrated by the new ones time Register. What has been said is confirmed in the fact that the study and methodology of athletic training believe that one Best Running Economy is the determining factor for the increase in the performance of the runners.
Further and different exams have also proven that the new type of shoe is able to return 7.5 j of mechanical energy for each stepabout the double of that returned by other footwear (3,5 j per pass).
What does the Superscarpe regulation say
Inevitably, following the birth and the first uses of new running shoes, the World Atlhetics (International athletics federation) intervened by bringing some changes to the regulation. The aim was to guarantee theequity and, therefore, that no one could be disadvantage or advantageespecially in major international events such as the Olympics of Paris 2024 or next 2025 world athletics world championships.
The measures dictated by the Federation are clear and precise. First of all there is a listperiodically updated, of shoes approved by World Athletics and, clearly, all “new outings” must exceed one procedure For acceptance before competing use. It is also reiterated that none Scarpa during development It can be worn without approval.
The main technical indications concern, without entering excessively specifically, it thickness and the measure solebut also the position of the forefoot and the heel Compared to the same. The athletes, then, can be subjected to a check footwear at any time first, during or after A competition at the discretion of the organization.
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