Should athletes be allowed to use performance-enhancing gear?

Firstly, this was a great article.

Secondly, as a distance runner who runs 1-2 marathons per year, a shoe that makes someone 4-6% more efficient in their stride is incredible. More runners should use available technology.

I feel so lucky to be a runner at this point in history. Because I over pronate when I step, I run with stability shoes. These shoes mean the difference between me finishing a marathon or stopping at mile 18 with a ton of knee pain.

Technology adapting to the need of an individuals body, in the context of sport, is amazing, I would not at all put it in the same category as doping.

I remember that, seveal years ago, olympic swimming was going through a "scandal" concerning suit that were designed to cut drag in the water, enablng swimmers to be faster. And it was shown that the suits DID measurably affect performance in the water. The suits were banned. Frankly, I'd have made sure that every athlete would have access to them.

It's a similar situation with the shoes. Provided that all marathon runners use the same shoe (or at least the same type of shoe), then no one is at an advantage or disadvantage. But banning them, say? No; ALL athletes look for any advantage they can get under the same basic structures of their sport. And that's not wrong.

Should tennis go back to wooden rackets. Should golf go back to wooden shaft clubs? Blah! Nothing stops the march of time.

If they are available to all participants, fine. Should high top basketball shoes, tennis shoes or shoes with cleats be banned? Much of athleticisms appeal lies in and seeing what humans can accomplish.

These shoes seem entirely proper. Theyreportedly offer runners the advantage of lighter weight while supporting and protecting feet over a long-distance race. This is not cheating; it is what running shoe makers have always sought to provide.

Lighter-weight shoes do not "enhance" performance; they just reduce a burden on the runner's own strength and endurance.

To, The Scientific American,

What is Ethical, What are Rights of an Individual Athletes and What are Rights of The Sports Bodies is a very complex matter.

There is a news that a Chinese Robot won Half Marathon.

Speaking of Sports Gears:

There are Formula 1 Races, which utilize High Technology Cars, yet the Title of Winner goes to the Person who Drives the Car.

Why not Marathoners agitate and say that using Marathoner Robot, sitting or standing inside it to run a Marathon is their Right?!

Arvind Joshi

Should they do marathons in bare feet? Stop technological innovation? Go back to the running shoes they used in the very first marathon?

In automobile racing the configuration of the machines is regulated and confined, leaving the real competition to the skill of the drivers and to luck. Equipment should be qualified in all competitive sport. An invention adopted by one competitor should be subject to review and adoption. If approved, all competitors should have access to it. The only real competition should be the will and skill of the athlete. Anything else would be cheating.

If the apparel is simply reducing mechanical inefficiencies, then I think it's fair game. The opposition can also use the technology. It seems to make the barrier thinner between the person and their achievement. Different shoes are always going to have different mechanics anyway, whether it's deliberate or not.

But it's a blurry line when it comes to aerodynamics. I don't want to see torpedoes with feet or bicycle wheels sticking out the bottom.

They should run barefoot. The marathons are usually on roads, so no rough terrain.

Well, since athletes stopped competing naked at the original Olympics every piece of sport clothing, and especially footwear, has been an attempt at technical doping. What we're running spikes or cleats on bike shoes? As long as the doping is not altering the available natural ability of the athletes it seems fine to me. The new shoes simply converts muscle power more efficiently into forward motion. As long as it is not adding things the athletes does not themselves have I think it's fine.

The only fair thing to do would be to go back to requiring competitors for the title of winner would be to go back to racing barefoot.

Just make sure all runners that want them get them

No way is it technological doping. It is basically working to extract the highest efficiency out of the human body as well as reducing the damage to the body that can be the result of very intense training. The technology will spin off to the general market in the form of new materials and designs.

I'm a barefoot runner, so I say they should run barefoot--preferably on dirt, sand and/or grassy surfaces. Asphalt is for cars.

Swimmers should be naked too (no flippers allowed means they're barefoot, too.)

Look at the ancient Greeks: the Olympics were nude events. And as for the marathon's origins, you will note that Pheidippides is depicted as running barefoot to report victory at the battle of Marathon.

Science cannot have deliberate stumbling blocks! we have to accept technological progress, or else we would have to build, ADDIDAS developed tracks and ask the athletes to run barefoot ;-))

Banning good shoes is silly. Should we require pole vaults to be bamboo? Golf clubs to be wood? Go fly fishing with willow branches?

If it does not include batteries or any power assistance other than human energy it should be legal.

In general, banning new technology is a losing game. Where are you going to draw the line? Require shoes above a certain weight? Allow barefoot running only? The only enforceable limit I can think of is to set a maximum thickness for soles. That might not be necessary because too thick a sole might slow you down.

Have two categories -- one for the tech, one for the "natural".

I ran a 2:31 marathon in 1983 without any special diet, wearing flat shoes that weighed about 450 g each. I don’t know how fast today’s athletes would have been back then, but shoe technology has certainly been a game changer. It makes runners faster, but arguably also more prone to injury. Personally, I think running should remain as natural as possible. It’s not just about records. Running is meditation, therapy, improved cognitive function — the list goes on. To me, some of these records have a certain flavor, and not a pleasant one.