---
title: "World Athletics bans Kipchoge and Bekele's running shoes"
published: 2020-01-31
updated: 2026-08-04
source: "https://dev-abp.massivoai.com/en/articles/world-athletics-prohibe-las-tenis-de-kipchoge-y-bekele"
---

# World Athletics bans Kipchoge and Bekele's running shoes

**World Athletics (formerly called IAAF) has modified the rules governing the use of running shoes in athletics. Among others, the version of Nike Vaporfly that Kipchoge used last year to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon and the ones Brigid Kosgei used to break the women's marathon world record WILL NO LONGER BE PERMITTED from now on.**

 

The new rules aim to curb what some consider "technological doping," which is the use of technology that provides a competitive advantage and is not accessible to all runners.

 

As of April 30, all running shoes must have been on sale for a minimum of four months before they can be used in official competitions, in order to ensure that all competitors have had time to access them.

 

Additionally, effective immediately, shoes that do not meet these requirements are prohibited:

 

- The sole thickness must not exceed 40mm.

- The shoe cannot contain more than one plate (of any material).

 

This last requirement is the reason why the shoes Kipchoge used would not be permitted, as they contain three carbon plates that, according to Nike, generate a propulsive effect that improves running economy by 4%.

 

Records achieved so far, however, will remain valid, even if they were set with the help of shoes that are now prohibited. This decision by World Athletics (WA) is in line with the one applied by the International Swimming Federation in 2010 when it banned Speedo's LZR Speed suits, with which swimmers were shattering all world records.

 

WA will now have a group of experts dedicated to guiding research into shoe technology, to provide suggestions and report when a particular technology is providing a competitive advantage. You can see the complete document with the new rules by downloading the official document[here](https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=1a53ca10-7f30-46e4-83fe-e7ff5fda2c60.pdf&urlslug=C2.1%20-%20Technical%20Rules%20(amended%20on%2031%20January%202020)).

 

"It is not our job to regulate the entire sports shoe market, but it is our responsibility to preserve the integrity of elite competition by ensuring that the shoes athletes wear do not represent an unfair advantage," said WA president Sebastian Coe, and added that the rules come at just the right time so that both athletes and manufacturers have clear guidelines ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

 

It will be interesting to see if athletes like Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, who came just two seconds short of matching Kipchoge's world record at the Berlin Marathon last year, can repeat or even come close to those stratospheric times recently achieved without the revolutionary technology of the Nike Vaporfly, the model both used for their feats.

 

And not just them; last year, 31 of the 36 athletes who finished in the top 3 of the World Marathon Majors marathons were wearing Vaporfly. Will we see a significant drop in everyone's times in 2020?

A Buen Paso uses [Massivo](https://massivoai.com), the event-registration platform that powers this article.