en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-hour_marathon
1 correction found
The first carbon fiber-plated running shoes were developed by American footwear company Nike and debuted as a prototype at the 2016 United States Olympic trials.
Nike did not develop the first carbon-fiber-plated running shoes. Credible sources document carbon-fiber plates in road-running shoes years earlier, including Adidas/Fila-era designs and a 2006 Adidas-funded study.
Full reasoning
This sentence overstates Nike's role in the history of plated shoes.
Nike's 2016 Vaporfly prototypes were hugely influential, but they were not the first carbon-fiber-plated running shoes.
Evidence:
- A University of Calgary feature on the history of the technology says Darren Stefanyshyn and Benno Nigg began testing carbon-fibre plates in running shoes nearly 25 years earlier, and adds that "many companies had experimented with the plates" before Nike. The same piece says it was Nike that pushed the technology into the market in a big way in 2016 — not that Nike invented it first.
- Runner's World reports that a 2006 Adidas-funded University of Calgary study tested "inserting a carbon-fiber plate into the midsole of Adistar Comp shoes". The same article also cites a 2000 Runner's World UK review of Adidas's Gazelle Pro Plate saying Adidas was not first because Fila had used similar carbon-fibre-plate technology for two years already.
So the accurate version is closer to: Nike popularized modern carbon-plated marathon shoes in 2016, but earlier carbon-fiber-plated running shoes and experiments already existed.
2 sources
- The Science Behind Your New Kicks | arch magazine
The duo discovered that a carbon-fibre plate embedded in the sole of a running shoe would provide a speed boost... Their findings would eventually contribute to a running-shoe revolution... It wasn't until 2016, however, that carbon-fibre tech took hold. While many companies had experimented with the plates, it was Nike that pushed carbon-fibre into the market in a big way.
- Nike's Magic Shoes: What If They Really Work? | Runner's World
Back in 2006, an Adidas-funded study at the University of Calgary showed that inserting a carbon-fiber plate into the midsole of Adistar Comp shoes... could improve running economy... Runner's World UK wrote back in 2000 about Adidas's Gazelle Pro Plate shoe: '...the Italians have been using a similar technology in the Fila Racer for two years.'