ArticleSports medicine - open2020
A Pragmatic Approach to Resolving Technological Unfairness: the Case of Nike's Vaporfly and Alphafly Running Footwear.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Technological Doping in Sport: Performance Enhancement, Health, Ethics, and Regulatory Governance: A Narrative Synthesis.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Mechanisms, Economy, and Performance of Advanced Footwear Technology in Endurance Running-A Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The molecular athlete: exercise physiology from mechanisms to medals.Physiological reviews · 2023Review
- Longitudinal bending stiffness does not affect running economy in Nike Vaporfly Shoes.Journal of sport and health science · 2022Article
- The Training Characteristics of World-Class Distance Runners: An Integration of Scientific Literature and Results-Proven Practice.Sports medicine - open · 2022Review
- "Dear IOC": Considerations for the Governance, Valuation, and Evaluation of Trends and Developments in eSports.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Review
- Comment on "A Pragmatic Approach to Resolving Technological Unfairness: The Case of Nike's Vaporfly and Alphafly Running Footwear".Sports medicine - open · 2021Article
- Author's Reply to González-Mohíno et al. "A Pragmatic Approach to Resolving Technological Unfairness: The Case of Nike's Vaporfly and Alphafly Running Footwear".Sports medicine - open · 2021Article
- Influence of advanced shoe technology on the top 100 annual performances in men's marathon from 2015 to 2019.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Energetics and Biomechanics of Running Footwear with Increased Longitudinal Bending Stiffness: A Narrative Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundTechnology is often introduced into sport to facilitate it or to improve human performance within it. On occasion, some forms of novel technology require regulation or prevention entirely to ensure that a sport remains fair and accessible. Recently, the Nike Vaporfly and Alphafly shoes have received some concerns over their appropriateness for use in competitive distance running.
methodsThis paper evaluates the use of these shoes against an existing framework for sports technology discourse and adopts a pragmatic approach to attempt to resolve them.
resultsIt is proposed that the three concerns regarding cost, access and coercion cannot be ruled out but likely remain short-term issues. As a result, it is proposed that these running shoes are acceptable forms of technology but that ongoing vigilance will be required as such technologies develop further in the future.
conclusionsThe Nike Vaporfly/Alphafly shoes do push the perceived acceptability of running shoes to the limits of the current sports regulations. However, the alleged gains have not manifested themselves to a level that could be considered excessive when reviewing historical performances or when evaluated against a set of well-cited criteria. The sport will need to adopt a stance of ongoing vigilance as such technologies continue to develop or be optimised in the future.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.