My So-Called Super Shoes
Pros swear by them; will I swear by — or at — them?
Every Olympic Games seems to generate its share of controversy. A point of contention surrounding the 2016 event in Rio was the advent of super shoes. Nike supplied their athletes with footwear that propelled runners to such unheard-of times that the competition was left to wonder what new force of nature the athletic behemoth had unleashed upon the running world. Soon everybody and their mother’s weekend jogging club was buzzing about (and splashing out $250 bucks on) super shoes. Desperate to get in on the lucrative action, a host of bandwagoning competitors developed super shoes of their own; now virtually every brand offers several versions.
What sets super shoes apart? Two things:
- a stiff, curved carbon plate that runs the length of the shoe; and,
- a midsole of dense, lightweight foam.
The plate helps to propel the runner forward while the midsole offers excellent energy return.
It’s hard to argue with results — it is claimed that the shoes provide a 4% improved performance, resulting in an overall 2% decrease in race times since 2016. The shoes are also said to assist with faster recovery. There is, however, a school of thought that super shoes don’t make a notable difference for the…
