Don’t celebrate too fast! The records are in the shoes

As a fan of the sport, it would be easy to celebrate the astounding recent distance running performances on the track and the road, but if we’re honest, we’ll be fooling ourselves.

The sport isn’t on the rise. It’s in limbo. And it’s all down to one thing: the shoes.

Last year, in an attempt to stop things from getting out of hand, World Athletics announced the latest regulations which prevent shoe manufacturers from doing whatever they please.

The regulations, however, allow for technology which has no doubt made nearly every athlete on the international circuit significantly faster.

This is clearly evident by the statistics.

Since August last year, the men’s and women’s world records have been shattered in the 5 000m and 10 000m events on the track.

These four records had stood for an average of 12 years before they were broken by athletes wearing suped-up shoes.

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda broke the men’s 5 000m and 10 000m world records last season, which had both stood for more than 15 years. Picture: Getty Images

And the results on the road have been equally remarkable.

The women’s half-marathon world record fell in October last year and five of the top six performances on the men’s all-time list were set in the same race in December.

South African athletes have also taken advantage of the situation by breaking multiple national records, while the depth has improved significantly both at home and abroad.

Some of the recent performances we’ve seen have been nothing short of silly, and results like this would previously have raised concerns about doping.

It’s unlikely, however, that drug use is any more of a problem now than it has ever been.

Though anti-doping officials are still fighting an uphill battle, recent improvements in long-distance running have little to do with cheating. It’s all about the shoes.

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When global swimming body Fina faced a similar issue with non-textile swimsuits, they opted to ban the suits.

World Athletics has gone a different way, choosing to give leeway to maufacturers by giving new lightning fast shoes a provisional green light.

They can, of course, change their minds, but as long as there are regulations in place, that’s probably not necessary.

All it means is that we are now in a period of limbo where previous records don’t mean much at all.

If we give it another year or two, every distance running world record is going to be smashed, and with all athletes receiving the same advantage, it will ultimately level out.

When athletes in fancy shoes break records set by athletes in equally fancy shoes, the sport will be reset and we’ll be back to normal.

Until then, let’s not celebrate too much.

I am a fan of the sport but I won’t be fooled by shoes.