World Athletics' Rapid About-Face on Shoe Regulations Leaves Runners in Confusion: "It's Like They're Playing With a Stacked Deck"

On Aug. 10 World Athletics announced that revised regulations on competition footwear that it had released on July 28 had already gone into effect on that date for track events. At the time of the new regulations' announcement WA had initially said that they would take effect on Dec. 1. The regulations effectively ban the use of thick-soled shoes Nike's dominant Vaporfly and Alphafly on the track and disallow any performances run in them.

WA's July 28 announcement of revised regulations was made in preparation for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games. The new regulations specify the thickness of the sole that may be use in shoes for various disciplines, with field events apart from the triple jump and track events up to 400 m limited to 20 mm, the triple jump, track events 800 m and longer, and cross-country up to 22 mm. Nike's current models, which dominate the long distance market, have thicknesses of 36 mm for the Vaporfly and 39.5 mm for the Alphafly.

The revised regulations have already resulted in the disqualification of at least one athlete in a track race in Europe since July 28. On Aug. 7, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Sondre Moen of Norway broke the track one-hour run European record, but under the new regulations his performance will not be certified. "I really regret doing it," he was quoted as telling a local newspaper when he found out.

With a massive number of Japanese athletes having set new PBs wearing thick-soled shoes at July's Hokuren Distance Challenge series, the effect of the new regulations in Japan is bound to be major. Many athletes had planned to target new PBs this fall before the original Dec. 1 deadline, leading to expressions of confusion on social media such as, "It's like World Athletics is playing with a stacked deck," and, "I just bought a new pair. When am I supposed to use them now?"

Competitors and road events including the marathon and race walks are still allowed to use shoes up to 40 mm in thickness. WA introduced that limit for road race shoes in January in an effort to stop the arms race in shoe technology sparked by Nike's products. Road shoes must have a thickness of 40 mm or less and must not feature multiple carbon plates.

Translator's note: The chart at top shows the top 25 men's 5000 m times so far this year. In a normal year 12-13 Japanese men break 13:40 for 5000 m. In just three meets in July this year, 22 did it, many (most?) in the shoes in question or rival makers' responses. 

source articles:
https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2020/08/11/0013593361.shtml
translated and edited by Brett Larner