We canvassed opinion to find out if nike’s vaporfly have ruffled the feathers in the running community with the killer question...
Since Nike’s trainers came onto the market elite runners have recorded the five fastest marathon times whilst wearing them. With the all clear for Vaporfly’s to be worn at the Tokyo Olympics, and sports brands pushing the boundaries with technology, we wanted to know if people thought this changed the playing field.
Who knew a pair of trainers could cause such debate?! Here’s a snapshot of opinions from our Rawvelo poll:
ARE VAPORFLY’S AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE?
“We will know after this season I guess. If several records are broken by different athletes, then that would suggest an advantage. That’s fine for today’s athletes, but I feel it would be robbing a legend of a current world record if that is the case.” Nigel Gooding
“I’D SAY IT’S NO DIFFERENT TO OTHER SPORTS WHERE EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY ‘MAY’ HAVE AN IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE...CYCLING, GOLF, TENNIS, MOTOR RACING TO NAME A FEW.”
— ANDY SMITH
“AND ANY DECENT RUNNING SHOE GIVES A BENEFIT OVER A PAIR OF STYLISH TRAINERS, SO WHAT?!” GRAHAM MCMASTER
“They are on general sale for anyone to purchase.” Glyn Jones
“FILL YA BOOTS AND GO BUY A PAIR. HOW CAN IT BE UNFAIR?? NONSENSE GO BUY YOURSELF A PAIR AND STOP LOOKING FOR EXCUSES.” MATT FELTON
“Even if so, the answer is... everyone wear vaporfly surely? I mean you'd want the best equipment and if it's the best then get it.” Mark Webb
“ IT’S FAIR GAME AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANYBODY. IT’S NOT AS IF OTHER ATHLETES AREN’T ALLOWED TO GO AND GET A PAIR.”
— FI JENKINSON
“If all the athletes wear them then you can’t complain.” David Sweeting
“I’M GETTING A PAIR MIGHT RUN FASTER LOL.” STUART BULLARD
“I can't see a problem....other companies can do it but Nike got there first. As long as it's using the runners weight, energy and motion and not actually propelling them it should be fine.” Paul Warmington
THE RESULTS ARE IN
The results are in and 72% of voters agreed it’s fair game to wear Vaporfly and 28% thought it was cheating – perhaps it’s time to buy a pair for your next event or park run to nail a PB!
If you want to add your opinion jump on the Facebook thread, we would love to know your thoughts.
