To run a marathon in less than two hours seemed almost impossible until 2019, when Eliud Kipchoge achieved just that. Obviously this feat was accomplished because of an extreme amount of determination and preparation, but what other factors were involved? During his race, Eliud had pacers to keep him at a speed of over 13 miles per hour, but that does not make his run controversial. The real reason for this controversy is the shoes he wore: Nike Alphaflys. Currently, these shoes are banned from the olympics.
One side of this argument is that the shoes should not be banned. Individuals who believe this would argue that runners should be allowed to wear any shoe they want. These same people would insist that the talent of a runner far outweighs the slight importance of a shoe, and that races would still be fair because almost every elite runner has access to these shoes. Another possible argument is that there are many shoes which are similar to the NIke Alphaflys and are yet to be banned.
The opposing side of this argument suggests that this particular shoe should be banned because it is technological doping. The reason for this is because of the proclaimed 3.4% increase in speed from this shoe. This shoe also violates rules set by World Athletics including the number of carbon fiber plates and the height of the midsole. Individuals who support this ban believe that Nike Alphaflys allow less skill to be demonstrated through runners themselves.
Overall, I believe that banning Nike Alphaflys is the right thing to do for the future of the sport. However, a concern of mine is the similarity between Alphaflys and shoes such as Vaporflys which are legal. I do understand both sides of this argument and I can see why many people are disapproving of the ban, but there must be rules that are enforced firmly. If these shoes were not banned, companies would be pushing the limits of running shoes even further. That stated, this is an interesting debate which is completely dependent on people's opinions.
Do you think NIke Alphaflys should be banned?
Should rules for the design of shoes be more or less strict?
Should any other sports equipment be banned?
Sources
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/nike-alphafly-banned-technological-doping
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/eliud-kipchoge-ineos-159-marathon#:~:text=During%20Kipchoge's%20record%20he%20had,Kipchoge%20in%20a%20V%20formation.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/31/sport/nike-world-athletics-vaporfly-alphafly-ban-spt-intl/index.html
Replies
I had no idea this was an issue. This was very interesting to me. Great topic choice and well done Ben!!
I personally think that the Nike Alphafly shoes should be banned. I think this because of the "unfair adavantage" the shoe would give the runner. The cheating problem can be easily solved if you would just ban the shoe in all races in my opinion.
I agree with your reply, but this does create a problem of where to draw the line. All shoes give runners slight advantages, but there should be a limit to the advantage given. I believe that the current rules are good because they are not extremely strict, but they maintain fairness.
I think the Alphaflys should be banned not because of the "unfair advantage" the shoe gives the runner, because that is easily solved if everyone just wore the shoes. I think they should be banned because the design goes against the rules that were already in place. I don't think the rules for design of shoes should be less strict because they were most likely set up that way for a reason.
I think it should be banned to, becuase it can help poeple cheat in a sport that takes time and practice to do. It also can help with supporting there feet better so they dont complain about there feet hurting after. Therefore it will help them win whatever they are going for which is not fair.
I think this shoe should be banned because it can give the perosn wearing the shoe and unfair advantage when running. I think that if everyone in the reace is wearing these shoes then it would be fine and fair because it takes away that unfair advantage.
I don't think that those shoes should be banned because runners still have to put in lots of work to accomplish those feats of running. If it only benefits one person because it doesn't because all runners have access to these shoes so it's not an unfir advantage.
I understand this comment, and I agree that runners still have to put in an immense amount of work. However, even if all runners have access to these shoes, they make things such as previous records appear less impressive. This means that it takes less effort to acheive a lower time with these shoes.
I think that they should wear what ever shoe they want to, but I guess it would make it simpler for the team if they just wear the same shoe so i don't really know.
I think that runners should really be able to wear whatever shoes they want to, unless they creagte an unfair atvantage towards the other players. I can definetly understand why these shoes would create possible issues, however.
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