Nike Alphafly running shoes avoid Olympic ban

In the crackdown on running shoes spurred by hi-tech Nikes, a clear winner is emerging: Nike.

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in less than two hours last October. Picture Reuters

In the crackdown on running shoes spurred by hi-tech Nikes, a clear winner is emerging: Nike.

New restrictions introduced last week by track and field’s world governing body didn’t just spare the company’s controversial Vaporfly sneakers from a ban. They also set the requirements at levels that allow the next generation of Nike distance-running shoes to sneak in just under the limits.

Nike said its Air Zoom Alphafly Next per cent, a prototype of which Eliud Kipchoge wore in October to run a marathon in less than two hours, falls within the new requirements. Two of the company’s new designs, which will be released later in the spring, will also likely be eligible for competition before the Tokyo Games, giving Nike’s performance-boosting shoes the broad blessing of international authorities while its rivals scramble to get similar sneakers to market.

The shoe model worn by Kipchoge has one carbon fibre plate and a sole thickness of 39.5mm for a European unisex size 42 according to Nike.

That meets the rules of running governing body World Athletics, which limit sole thickness to no more than 40mm and allow the inclusion of rigid material like carbon fibre as long as it is on one continuous plane.

Nike said it was prepared to offer the shoe in limited quantities online at the end of the month. That means it will meet another requirement: to be on the open market by April 30 to be allowed in the August 8 and 9 Olympic marathons.

Two of Nike’s new designs — a training version of the Alphafly and a running spike — currently violate the new rules, but the sneaker giant will tweak at least one to meet the requirements. The company said it would attempt to change the running spike and make it available to customers by April.

Before last week’s ruling, Nike’s Chief Design Officer John Hoke said the company wasn’t worried about new requirements from World Athletics. Designers at the sneaker giant were prepared to find novel ways to work around the rules before the Tokyo Games. “We will use creativity and imagination to find new solutions,” Mr Hoke said. “There’s never just one path.”

After the World Athletics decision, Nike said it was pleased the Vaporfly series and Alphafly Next per cent remained legal, and that it would continue its dialogue with World Athletics and the industry on new standards.

Since prototypes of Nike Vaporflys appeared at the 2016 US Olympic marathon trials, they have generated record-breaking performances and spurred controversy.

Competing shoe brands have scrambled to create prototypes that mimic the Vaporfly. The new requirement to make those models available for sale in the open market in less than three months has frustrated competitors.