The Ethics of Acceleration: Technology's Impact on Sports

What probably started with a big spotlight by Nike some years back, has found its way into other gear and accessories for sports-people. We have been watching how super-shoes or super-swim-suits have been grabbing headlines as captivatingly as some unbelievable Gold medals at Olympics. But such boosters also grab usage-bans, morality darts and fairness aspersions with equal speed. So how ethical, accessible, democratic, sustainable and easy-on-the-pocket are such leaps? And why would personalization be the next spotlight case as we run towards the next Olympics? Excerpts from a chat with Wouter Hoogkamer, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Director UMILL, University of Massachusetts Integrative Locomotion Lab.

He has been busy with research to quantify the potential benefits of middle-distance Advanced Footwear Technology (AFT) spikes. And he has a lot to reveal as he unravels this sole.

Technology is, clearly, breaking new records in performance enhancements every year. But we are still caught in the dilemma about technology-doping. What do you think of it- doesn’t technology boost some athletes with an unfair advantage?

It is always an interesting question. I look at technology from the view of a scientist. I am not necessarily in the field of ethics. But technology providing a difference in performance - that can put it in the ambit of this doubt. It really depends on the situational context. If everyone had access to the same super-shoes then we would not be talking about this issue. If only a select group of athletes is allowed to use specific shoes, then it can be a worry. That said, I like innovation. Sports brands are working consistently in making innovation accessible. Sometimes contracts and patents can get in the way though.

Your experiments also covered factors like validity, sensitivity, reliability and commercially-available spikes. Is the issue of access even more complicated because the super-products can have a limited life, are expensive and have to be renewed again even if an athlete or team can afford them once?

It is one aspect of the issue here. These enhancements can turn expensive sometimes. But most of these elite athletes are supported by sports brands in this regard, providing them with their products. But as we see in Kenya, training with breakthrough products can be expensive when you have limited means of renewals. Also, these shoes are not necessarily that expensive to start with. There are layers of commercialization and capitalism to reckon with. However, I foresee that, in the long-term horizon, as these products gather scale; they will get more affordable too.

It was fascinating to see that you studied how self-perceived middle-distance race pace is faster in AFT Spikes. What have you focused on, and distilled through, with your research in this area?

We initiated a deep interest in this field in 2017 when our research showed that Nike super-shoes made a difference in road running race performance. At that time, people came out with fairness concerns as well. By the time Tokyo games happened, more brands came in the fray with shoes made with similar technology. For road running, we observed smaller gaps between different brands but a significant difference between traditional shoes and this modern footwear incorporating the latest innovations. On the track, Nike super-spikes appeared to be ahead of the competition. At the recent Olympics in Paris, all brands had their own super-spike models and have been improving very swiftly to seemingly come close to each other. Now we are intrigued to ask- are those recent fast times on the track due to super-spikes or are athletes getting better? And, are different super-spikes on the track equally good?  

"Our research indicates that women get a 2 percent advantage with just better foam, while men experience less benefit from just foam and run faster after adding the plate."

Please explain.

We found that super-spikes provide a substantial advantage over traditional spikes – to the order of two percent. And, super-spikes from some brands are indeed marginally better than others.

You also concluded at one point that AFT track spikes are significantly faster than traditional track spikes, primarily due to increases in step length. Do you think personalization- as per a specific athlete’s body or style- would be the next frontier?

Possible. We have studied this area deeply and closely. There are two elements in this field of super-shoes- a carbon fibre plate and more springy foams. Depending on the forces applied by the athlete sometimes the combination of plate and foam works better for some than for others.  Our research indicates that women get a 2 percent advantage with just better foam, while men experience less benefit from just foam and run faster after adding the plate. We also want to study this phenomenon as per individual athletes. Also track races beyond 800 meters run at slower speeds may find different performance results with foam, plate or combinations. We anticipate that more and more individualisation- as per race distance, and mass and strength of runners- will gain pace in the next Olympics.

Is it the classic case of ‘a spiderman who is nothing without the suit – does not deserve it’?  Are super-shoes good news?

There is a lot of marketing around sport innovations. Looking at this area from the angle of science is a good thing. There are many claims made about athletes breaking records with new tech-stuff. But can a runner run exceptionally faster merely by strapping a fancy headphone? Sometimes the real magic is just the athlete. Whether a product is good or bad, the best runner might anyway win. Therefore, we should be aware about the marketing that envelopes this space. At the same time, there are sports innovations that provide athletes with performance benefits, to tell one from the other objective research is often needed.

By Pratima H