For decades, marathon running was seen as a test of the body with minimal help from equipment. A defining example was the late Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, who won the 1960 Rome Olympics marathon in a world record after running barefoot rather than in new shoes that did not fit.
Running shoes later became standard, but for years their role was largely limited to protecting the foot and cushioning impact. Elite runners wanted lighter shoes, yet manufacturing constraints forced trade-offs between shock absorption and weight. That changed in the late 2010s, when major brands introduced shoes combining lightweight carbon-fiber plates with specialized foam, ushering in the super-shoe era.
By returning energy like a spring with each stride, the technology has sharply reduced times. Reuters and other foreign media reported that since the super-shoe era began, the pace of world-record improvement has shifted from seconds to minutes over the past nine years.
The gains also fueled accusations of “technology doping.” The debate intensified in 2019 when Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge broke two hours in an unofficial event while wearing Nike shoes with three carbon-fiber plates in the sole. After criticism that the shoes went beyond an athlete’s natural ability, World Athletics in 2020 limited elite racing shoes to a maximum sole thickness of 40 millimeters and restricted carbon-fiber plates to one.
As the once-unthinkable times arrived back-to-back, questions about reliance on shoe technology resurfaced. Sawe rejected the suggestion. “It’s true the shoes are very light and you feel like they push you forward, but it’s not (doping) at all. I ran in fully approved shoes that comply with the rules,” he said, according to Reuters on April 28. Sawe’s coach told Britain’s The Guardian that Sawe’s ability, along with the shoes and proper nutrition, had helped push the marathon into a new era.
Sawe and other top finishers, including women’s world-record setter Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia (2:15:41), wore Adidas’ Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. The shoe weighs 97 grams in a 270-millimeter size — about the weight of two eggs — and is designed with carbon materials and a customized build to reduce energy use and maximize rebound, according to the report.
With the two-hour barrier now broken, competition among global brands is expected to continue. Reuters reported that shoe performance can improve running efficiency by 2% to 4% — a small figure on paper but a major difference over 42.195 kilometers. It added that while World Athletics limits sole thickness and the number of carbon plates, it still allows innovation, making comparisons of records across generations increasingly difficult.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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