Hoka guru wants to curb advance of shoe technology, as sub-2 hour marathon chase hots up
- Brand’s co-founder Nico Mermoud says line could be named in honour of Hong Kong, after regular testing on city’s trails before 2009 launch
The man behind a running company supporting athletes competing at the Paris Olympics wants to curb the advance of shoe technology, to preserve the integrity of elite sport.
It is nearly five years since Eliud Kipchoge’s Nike-manufactured sub-two hour marathon in Vienna prompted a redrawing of athlete footwear regulations.
Nico Mermoud, the co-founder of shoe brand Hoka, said athletics chiefs must “allow technology to evolve … knowing it might create a benefit”, but acknowledged human endeavour should remain paramount.
He pointed out that Kipchoge was aided by artificial circumstances, other than shoes the Kenyan wore that markedly increased running efficiency, when he broke the barrier in October 2019.
Kipchoge, who will target a third straight Olympic marathon title next month, had 41 pacemakers and a hand-picked, sheltered course.
Athletics’ governing body, the IAAF, nonetheless, subsequently restricted the thickness of soles to 40 millimetres, and permitted only one rigid structure, such as an embedded carbon fibre plate, in each shoe.
