According to legend, the first-ever marathon was so exhausting that the Greek messenger, who dashed 40km from the battlefield to Athens, collapsed and died. Over the past 2,500 years, humans have become better at running. Eight of the ten fastest times in female marathon have been recorded since 2022. This can to a large extent be explained by the development of a new generation of hyper-bouncy running shoes— "super-shoes"—that offer athletes greater assistance. Such has been the improvement that some have questioned whether the technology is now too dominant.
No doubt that athletes are breaking records because of their footwear. Both Nike and Adidas have persuaded World Athletics to permit shoes with chunky, foam soles（鞋底）, which act as springs. When their feet compress the super-shoes into the ground, the runners receive more energy as they push off again. In 2017 Nike announced the new technology allowed athletes to use 4% less energy than they would if wearing a regular shoe.
Those who would like the shoes banned worry that the balance between the runners' ability and footwear has become twisted. Plainly, though, this is a long way from shoes that matter more than runners. A club runner may set a personal best in a pair of Nike Alphaflys, but she is not going to outrun Ms. Assefa（world champion） wearing regular shoes. World Athletics insists such super-shoes should be available to all athletes in order to be legal, so there is no risk of results being determined by a lack of access to the best equipment.
Part of the appeal of sports is that they show humans on an upward trajectory （轨迹）, becoming stronger, faster and fitter. Technology has always contributed to this. But as the sports industry has more investment, the motivations to find an edge in performance have grown, whether in kit, diet or game strategy. Surely, advances have to be controlled. But banning super-shoes would be opposing progress and difficult to enforce. This is a genie （精灵）that cannot be returned to its shoebox.
