The Tokyo Olympics are officially starting today, about a year late and after months of tumultuous buildup. Of the 339 gold medals that are potentially up for grabs, two will be of particular interest to the world of athletics — the men's and women's marathon events.
The first Olympic marathon, held in 1896, was completed in a little under 3 hours and won by a Greek water carrier. Over the next 100 years Olympic marathon times tumbled, as athletes got faster thanks to modern training techniques and nutrition. Shoes were unlikely to be the deciding factor on whether you won a marathon race or not.
Nice sneakers
Recently though, that has changed. If you watch the long distance running events closely this year you'll notice how many will be rocking shoes that have a distinctive "chunky heel". That style was started by Nike back in 2016, with the release of its controversial "Vaporfly" running shoe, which some have described as running on "trampolines" thanks to a thick layer of foam and a carbon-fiber plate, which allows for maximum spring in each step.
Estimates suggest that the original Vaporfly, and its successive offspring, can improve running efficiency by around 4%. That doesn't sound like much, but over the course of a 26.2 mile race, it can add up to a few minutes of time. It was the shoe of choice for Brigid Kosgei when she broke the seemingly untouchable world record in 2019 and what Eliud Kipchoge ran in when he (unofficially) ran the first ever sub 2-hour marathon in the INEOS 1:59 challenge.
Long distance running at the Tokyo Olympics will be all about resilience, grit, determination, skill, hard work and... shoes.
