After Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum broke Eliud Kipchoge’s world marathon record while sporting Nike’s newest prototype of carbon-plated shoes; Nike has struck back in the fight for the athletics ‘super shoe.’
Recently, both the men’s and women’s marathon world records have fallen, but the focus has shifted from the runners themselves to the role that ‘super-shoes’ played in this.
On September 24, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa broke the women’s marathon world record in Berlin, finishing in two hours 11 minutes 53 seconds, two minutes 11 seconds faster than Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in Chicago in 2019.
Former 800m runner Assefa made her marathon debut in March 2022 using Adidas’ £400 Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 shoes.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Kenyan long-distance runner Kelvin Kiptum wore Nike Dev 163 trainers and set a new world record in the Chicago Marathon. Nike has officially recognised them as Alphafly 3 models.
World Record shoe – The Alphafly 3 (aka the Nike Dev 163)
The 23-year-old Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s marathon World record wearing the new Nike Dev 163 prototype shoes, which are legal under World Athletics rules. Nike confirmed these shoes are in fact the Alphafly 3, on sale… pic.twitter.com/ChTaDOIhX9
— Track Spice 🌶️ (@trackspice) October 10, 2023
With a time of 2 hours and 35 seconds, Kiptum finished the race 34 seconds faster than his colleague Eliud Kipchoge in 2022.
Kelvin Kiptum broke the marathon world record (2:00:35) to win the Chicago Marathon in the Nike Alphafly 3. ✅🥇 pic.twitter.com/aMgY28H0ge
— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) October 8, 2023
Amazingly, this was just his third marathon ever, and he now has three of the six fastest times ever recorded.
Sifan Hassan, also wearing a pair of Alphafly 3s, won the women’s Chicago Marathon and established a new course record.
What are ‘Super Shoes’?
The World Athletics governing body revised its rules in January 2022 to account for the rapid development of footwear in recent years.
An 18-page document specified that athletes may not wear specified types of footwear in competition unless those shoes met certain technical specifications, such as the required thickness of the sole.
The sole of the shoe must be no more than 40mm thick, and there should be no more than one hard piece of the shoe. Perhaps most controversially, competitors must be able to buy the sneaker for at least a month before they can wear it.
The Alphafly 3s have been officially sanctioned by World Athletics, meaning they meet all their technical specifications and are allowed to be worn in competition. And on Tuesday, Nike said Alphafly 3 is meeting the requirements and will be released in January of 2024.
Nike Alphafly 3. Confirmado lanzamiento en enero 2024 ✅ #nike #nikerunning pic.twitter.com/BMb066gmHj
— Palabra de Runner (@palabraderunner) October 10, 2023
Nike has not yet announced the weight of the Alphafly 3, but the shoes include a curved midsole geometry that is meant to drive runners forward and rigid plates or rods placed in the midsole, often made of carbon, to assist the shoe in maintaining its form.
Although the Alphafly 3 is not yet available to the general public, it may be used in testing by World Athletics until December 2023.
