Nike recently unveiled the Vaporfly Elite, the shoe it has been working on to help it break the 2-hour marathon barrier. The shoe incorporates a “spring plate”, and is claimed to have significant performance implications. I think the shoe, and the incorporation of spring-like devices in all shoes, should be banned for future credibility of performance. Here’s why
Marketing & sponsorship
The “2-hour marathon” season begins
Kenenisa Bekele kicks off the 2017 Marathon season in Dubai, with what is a potential world record. It’s the year of the “Breaking-2” after Nike’s announcement last December. This article is an expanded version of one I wrote for an SA Newspaper on Jan 15th, 2017
The sub-2 hour marathon in 2017? Thoughts on concept
Nike’s announcement that they’re backing three top marathoners to break the 2 hour marathon barrier in Spring 2017, is the latest installment in the sub-2 hype. Relevance and legitimacy aside, what would it take, product and course wise, to achieve? I look at shoes and downhill running to illustrate the concept of physiological barriers and how they might be shifted.
Talent ID & Development: IAAF Level 5 and USATF Level 3 lectures
I’ve spent the last week, a very stimulating one, at the IMG Academy in Brandenton Florida, where I’ve lectured on the IAAF Level 5 and USATF Level 3 coaching courses. The specific theme of this year’s Academy was Youth Sport, and I did four lectures in total – three on Talent ID and Specialization issues, […]
On shit-deflecting umbrellas, high performance sport and Sunette Viljoen
South Africa’s silver-medal winning Javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen has been in the SA news recently, for her criticisms of SASCOC, SA’s Olympic Committee. The specifics of her objections are funding, but the concept is high performance management. My thoughts on how SA lets its elite athletes down