# The Nike Air Zoom Vaporfly. Cheating?



## PaulB (21 Aug 2022)

These Nike shoes are so powerful, its users have been accused of cheating. They are said to improve elite athletes' race times by up to two minutes over a marathon. 31 out of 36 of 2019s top marathon runners at the six biggest races in the world wore them. In the humble parkruns (and I have 181 of those under my belt), aficionados of this shoe reckon it knocks between 30 and 60 seconds off their times without any noticeable difference in effort. You can see on the start line in these events now that about 10% of the field are wearing them. My mate inherited a pair and has offered them to me but I've said no mainly because he reckons that while they're responsible for his improved times, the position they force your feet into have caused more injuries than you'd expect. I tried them on and they are extremely light but they do put you in an unusual position from the ground up. You feel like you're standing on solid wedges that push you forward from the hip so they'd take some getting used to.

Nike don't hide the fact they offer an unfair advantage because they want you to have it or at least THINK you have it so you'll buy them - approx £150 - to improve your times. They've certainly knocked more seconds off marathon runners times than Alberto Salazar was banned for with his dubious methods.

There's a carbon plate in the midsole cushioned with compressed foam which has a thickness of 39.5mm which is just under the 40mm limit set by World Athletics.


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## Mo1959 (21 Aug 2022)

Several other shoe makers are using the carbon sole plates now too so it's no longer just Nike. I suppose it's advancing technology just as it is with bikes. I would say it is only cheating if you were using a shoe that other competitors can't buy, but it's available to everyone. Each to their own, but I would rather have a more cushioned shoe for my own mediocre running performance, but I do actually own a pair of these and haven't actually used them yet.


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## MichaelW2 (21 Aug 2022)

From the position you have described , it sounds like Nike engineers have cracked the problem and the runner is always running downhill. Gravitational doping.


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## steveindenmark (21 Aug 2022)

Its only cheating if it is not available to everyone and it is. This is using the best resources to hand.


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## Phaeton (21 Aug 2022)

steveindenmark said:


> Its only cheating if it is not available to everyone and it is. This is using the best resources to hand.



Surely it's only cheating if it's expressly forbidden in the rules, just because you are the only person who has access to 'it/them' is irrelevant?


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## Beebo (21 Aug 2022)

They’ll probably get banned at elite level like the full length swimsuits and certain golf cubs. 
But the amateur runners may get the benefits.


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## a.twiddler (21 Aug 2022)

Probably just marketing and selective reporting. Anybody want to buy a perpetual motion machine?


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## mustang1 (21 Aug 2022)

This is like using an aero bike when others are using racing bikes.


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## cyberknight (21 Aug 2022)

pretty much most of the peleton was on EPO a while back so by some thinking cus everyone had access it was legal


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