Remember when FINA banned sharkskin swimsuits worn by swimmers around the world after May 2010? This high-tech swimsuit in the first month of the advent of 14 world records were broken, the most terrifying is in 2009, because the fourth generation of shark skin swimsuits were worn by some European and American athletes, the entire year a total of 43 world records were refreshed, so in July 2009, the INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING Federation after discussion decided, from May 2010, the world banned high-tech swimsuits, then now there are more than 40 world records stopped in 2009 that year
But now in the world of athletics, it is very likely that the same Pandora's box will be opened, "super spikes" since the Tokyo Olympic Games began to be known to the world, the future records in the track and field field, will not be changed by it? Especially the "Bolt Record", which is almost insurmountable, will the future end not with talent and hard work, but by high technology?
Super spikes should first enter the international arena should be traced back to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but not many people noticed at the time, of which the women's marathon champion and the top three men's marathon runners wore running shoes with thick midsole and curved carbon fiber board camouflage super spikes prototype, only later was found that this running shoe can improve efficiency by 4%, to know that in the Olympic track and field field, especially in the straight, victory and defeat are often between 0.1 seconds, so from the Rio Olympics, "super spikes" It began to be quietly and vigorously developed by major sports giants
This stage is the same as the 2000 Sydney Olympics that year, when a player wore the first generation of sharkskin swimsuits to compete, and finally broke three world records and won three Olympic gold medals, the most surprising thing was the men's 400m freestyle final, when he swam to the finish line, he turned around and found that the second place was a meter away from him, and this person was the Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe, and since then the sharkskin technology track has begun to compete globally
Sure enough, four years later, the Athens Olympic sharkskin swimsuit entered the second generation, because there were more athletes wearing sharkskin swimsuits, Ian Thorpe's advantage was no longer there, and as a result, at the Athens Olympic Games, 47 of the final Olympic medalists were wearing sharkskin, and Pandora's box was opened
Speaking of super spikes, the script is the same, the next Tokyo Olympic Games after Rio, slightly conditional middle-distance runners began to wear super spikes, in fact, from the 2019 Doha World Championships have gradually been "popular", and the super spikes on the Tokyo Olympics have been very different from Rio, the post-race data has also been confirmed, one of the famous sports giants developed super spikes than the rest of the shoes efficiency of 4%, and in the whole year of 2009, Since the debut of a giant brand of super spikes, the men's and women's 5000 meters and 10,000 meters world records have been broken throughout the year, the women's indoor 1500 meters and the men's indoor 1500 meters have also been broken, even the national college record and high school record have also been improved, the strength of the super spikes has gradually been confirmed, and the Tokyo Olympic Games have begun to be put into test use
Although the strength of today's super spikes is not comparable to the fourth generation of shark skin swimsuits worn by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, once the power of science and technology is used in sports events, this kind of technological competition itself is unlimited, and now the direction of super spikes is the most controversial, let's take a look at the university of Massachusetts Amherst experimental results of the definition of super spikes: the lightweight, supple, elastic foam and air bags, combined with hard nylon, PEBA, carbon fiber board. In layman's terms, the super spikes are based on grip, more of a "spring" role (which can be understood in this popular sense), and it is this role that has been attacked by Kasten Walholm, the king of the men's 400-meter hurdles and the new section of the 400-meter hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics
Carsten Walholm said that advanced equipment within the rule range is allowed, of course, athletes love, but if you put springs on the soles of your shoes, I think it weakens the credibility of athletics, I don't know why you add something else to the soles! Athletes who share the same views as Carsten Walholm are not in the minority. So is it really high-tech running shoes that will break Bolt's record in the future?