Nike Launch Retail Version Of Controversial Alphafly Shoe That Helped Eliud Kipchoge

Nike's controversial Alphafly trainers are set to go on sale to the public later this year, after the American manufacturer brought them in line with new World Athletics' rules.

In October Eliud Kipchoge incredibly broe the two hour mark for running a marathon, by doing the 26.5 miles in 1:59:40, in an unofficial world record.

The Kenyan had several factors to help him in his attempt to run under two hours and was helped by the controversial Alphafly, which led to World Athletics changing their rules on shoes last week, banning any shoes with a sole thicker than 40mm or more than one rigid embedded plate or blade.

The new Alphafly zoom. Image: Nike

The new shoe for retail will stay in line with the new rules with Nike saying in a statement, "We are pleased the Nike Zoom Vaporfly series and Nike Zoom Alphafly Next% remain legal.

"We will continue our dialogue with World Athletics and the industry on new standards."

The new rules also state that any shoe used in competition will have to be available to the public for four months before they can be worn.

There is no official date for the new shoe and no price has been released but they are expected to hit the shops later this year, in time for the summer.

In a statement Carrie Dimoff, a member of Nike's Advanced Innovation Team, said, "The groundbreaking research that led to the original Vaporfly unlocked an entirely new way of thinking about marathon shoes.

"Once we understood the plate and foam as a system, we started thinking about ways to make the system even more effective. That's when we struck upon the idea of adding Nike Air to store and return even more of a runner's energy and provide even more cushioning."

Kipchoge runs the marathon in under two hours. Image: PA Images

Nike's new range also includes a Vaporfly shoe for sprinting that doesn't meet regulations for competition. An additional plate is allowed with shoes that have spikes but it's not allowed to be thicker than 30mm, which the new show currently is.

In the past 16 months the five fastest marathon times of all time have been run, with all of them done wearing some variation of Nike's technology, as per BBC Sport.

Will you be buying a pair of Alphafly shoes to get 4% quicker?

Topics: Nike

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

@Sidler28