Controversial running shoes备受争议的跑鞋

2022-01-17湖北王小萍

疯狂英语·新悦读 2021年11期

湖北王小萍

随着高科技的发展，拥有一双功能性跑鞋将有效提升运动员长跑的优势，但这公平吗？

1Platform shoes are back in fashion,at least in athletics.Many of the long-distance runners at the Tokyo Olympics arrived at the starting line sporting footwear with distinctive chunky-looking heels.It will be more than just fashion statement.The new shoes offer such a big performance advantage that critics have described them as “technological doping(兴奋剂)”.

2Running-shoe makers have long tried to boost athletic performance,observes Geoff Burns,a biomechanics expert at the University of Michigan.In olden days,a 1% improvement in“running economy”—the energy taken to travel a given distance—would have impressed.But in 2016 Nike released the first version of its “Vaporfly” model,which improved “running economy” by 4%.

3If that percentage were to translate directly into performance,it would cut about five minutes off an elite male's marathon time.In practice,as Dr Burns observes,it wouldn't quite do that.A marathon improvement of around 90 seconds would be a more realistic expectation.

4Scientists are still puzzling over exactly how the shoes work.The soles are made of a new material that offers a mix of resilience(弹性)and softness,according to Dr Burns.This returns around 80% of the energy from each strike of a runner's foot.

5The carbon-fibre plate may help alter a runner's gait.By cushioning(缓和打击)a runner's bones and muscles from repetitive impacts,the shoes may even help athletes train harder than they otherwise could.

6In January 2020,World Athletics,the governing body of international athletics,passed new rules limiting the thickness of the sole of road shoes to 40 mm.Meanwhile,Nike appeared to have put its plans aside to design high-tech shoes for sportsmen at the Tokyo Olympics,possibly because they did not obey the regulations either.But if they have worked out a way around that problem,there could be fireworks in the match,too.