Triathlon who? USAT, WTO, PTO, ITU

World Triathlon...rule starts Jan 1, 2023.

Where can I read more about this?

It's initially mentioned here: https://www.triathlon.org/...hip_finals_abu_dhabi

Thanks

Are they going to start checking age groupers' shoes with a ruler?

Does a list of disqualified shoes exist?

Wasn't it 40mm drop or something like that?

---

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I hope you mean 40mm stack, not drop. I didn't see anyone in heels.

---

================

Hello SheridanTris and All,

The new rule, to take effect immediately, requires that running shoes have a maximum midsole thickness of 40mm and no more than one stiff carbon plate. This rule appears to grandfather in the Nike Vaporfly Next%s, which has been a popular shoe of choice among elite marathoners and many top triathletes.

---

Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Useful short discussion in the last 5 minutes of this podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/...ri-news/id1559781865

Sounds like you're hanging around the wrong races... /s

But I thought all of the major manufacturers had dropped their supe shoes under the 40mm level, are they any left? Or just those with older shoes?

The Adidas that recently released that Patrick Lange competed in would fall afoul of this rule.

As would, of course, Iden's Ons (which had been rolled out to some other athletes recently).

Yes -- applies to age groupers.

IRONMAN to adopt as well.

---

----------------------------------
Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

How is Ironman actually going to enforce this in the age group ranks??

---

blog

Good, hopefully companies stop making shoes that go beyond this. The super shoes are not good for sport.

I have a philosophical difference with this as it applies to triathlon. Triathlon has not followed many of the established rules, referencing UCI here, and it has resulted in constant innovation. To limit shoe development to a specific envelope is ridiculous. A lot of R&D is trial and error, and to limit it just as the trials were showing some exciting developments stunts the running community. I for one believe thicker midsoles decrease injuries. Who knows if we were on the verge of coming up with a shoe with great performance plus the ability to minimize injury or allow those with knee issues to run longer.

Aside from the stack height, there's also a stipulation for commercial availability. So this means that athletes can't wear prototypes for races even if the correct stack height no? Many of the Hoka athletes (e.g. Kanute, Pallant-Browne) wore the yet to be released Hokas in their previous races. I'd imagine athletes would be more hesitant to get into shoe sponsorships especially if the brand is quite behind the curve in releasing fast shoes.

Can’t remember who it was but one company sold about 10 pairs of shoes and said it was commercially available. When challenged it was deemed to be commercially available.

Amateur marathon runners aren't checked either. Only applies to the pros.

Or do the same as they do at run races....

It's new to tri, but not new to the world

Bad idea. That would just allow mfgs to launch shoes the day before major races so there's no time to add them to the list. The 40mm rule works for running, why change it?

They continue to introduce them. They're often good trainers and amateurs can wear them in running races.

New Balance SC Trainer and Adidas Prime X Strung were both launched recently with around 50mm stack.

Lange and Astle both won IM Israel wearing the Prime X.

That explains Mizuno's new shoe, which looks to be 4mm stack in the heel (where theyre measured for this rule) and negative 40mm drop. Haha

Thanks for the correction. I meant stack doh!

---

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"