When we are children, the day comes when - with a mixture of emotions and insecurities - we put on our spiked shoes for the first time. It is at that moment that we become aware of how much a simple object, such as a shoe, can become a vehicle for a great sporting performance and all the emotion it can convey.
We all remember the first spiked shoe on the track: a feeling of lightness and at the same time invincibility when the pace begins to quicken, step after step.
How can you describe the feeling, the sound, or the simple functional aesthetics of a pair of spiked shoes?
The ability to create the perfect combination of technique, performance and beauty of a shoe is a true work of art, icons of an event, a historical period, or a memorable feat.
Yet, in all this, we often overlook a small detail - small indeed: the spike.
Just like the shoe, the choice of spike is fundamental for the athlete. There is a wide choice of spikes on the market: needle, pyramid, "Christmas tree", the whole branch of compression spikes, shark tooth shaped or even the exotic honeycomb microtubules. Then you also have to consider materials, from carbon to ceramic passing through various resins.
If we wanted to be particularly scientific, even the choice of a technical support such as the racing spike enjoys a certain amount of literature, whose perhaps most exhaustive expression was explained by Rafael E. Bahamonde, Jefferson Streepey and Alan Earl Mikesky in their Energy return of different shapes of track spikes paper; in this research, different types of spikes are tested on a MONDO track surface and the energy returns are calculated. (I don't want to reveal more but I invite you to read this interesting research, being clearly aware that it is from 2014.)
But let's put ourselves for a moment in the shoes of a young athlete who has to buy spikes for the first time - what will be the criteria of choice?
So where is the right answer to be found in all of this? Perhaps in the middle - trying to apply both a bit of technical common sense and a bit of self-love towards personal demand (as in Athletics in general), which I like to call an ''extreme impassioned technicality.''
As for the spikes, common sense should often be applied in the approach to the track: Is it soft? Is it stiff? Is it worn? Is it hard? Is it petrified? What material is it made of?
Without going too much into technicalities, an acceptable track should allow a good combination of friction and reaction, without the spike "anchoring" or "skidding". Unfortunately, in suburban areas, these problems often occur due to wear and tear, where the tracks are in such a bad condition that they become harmful to users.
What if the track were adapted to the athletes? It would be a different kind of athletics, from the most basic levels to the elite.
During the 2021 season, I had the opportunity to speak with some of the Italian athletes, people with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing friendship and "careers", asking for clarification regarding the facilities they have used, revealing a certain amount of praise for the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow and the Tokyo Olympic Stadium... specifically Tokyo.
What we witnessed at the Tokyo Olympic Games was a real revolution, the likes of which had not happened since Mexico City in 1968: the year in which, in addition to the geographical location at high altitude, synthetic tracks were introduced - to which shoes and technologies had to be adapted.
Many of those involved in the event were stunned to see the enormous improvements made by the athletes. The final of the men's 400 hurdles was emblematic: Karsten Warholm not only smashed the World record, but with 45.94, became the first man to run under 46 seconds; silver went to the American Benjamin with 46.12, third to the Brazilian Allison Dos Santos with 46.71 and so on, with special mention to the 47.12 of the fifth classified Samba, whose time would have won all the editions of the Games except Barcelona '92.
Most people, especially the media, have focused primarily on the shoes. This is clearly influential as we have seen particularly in middle distance, but there is a basic aspect to consider: the new models of shoes have been seen on the track for the ENTIRE season and have not produced the striking and epoch-making results seen at the Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital. So, let’s turn our gaze to the track.
That's right, the track, the Mondotrack WS-TY, which turned out to be stratospheric, overall, because the results of all the athletes in the race (runners in particular) were above average, not just peaks. I won't hide the fact that I feel a twinge of envy as a former athlete.
This was perhaps the perfect example of coexistence between different technologies: track, shoes, and spikes, all at the service of the athletes.
In this specific case, it is only right to say a few words about the conclusions of the study Energy return of different shapes of track spikes mentioned above, since we are talking about a MONDO track. Rafael E. Bahamonde and collaborators concluded that for this type of MONDO prefabricated vulcanized rubber track, the optimal spike to use is the one with the largest contact surface without particular penetration (for example, Christmas tree spikes), so that the dissipation of energy to the ground is less, while the energy returned is obviously greater. Clearly this does not mean that a person should choose that type of spike if he finds it uncomfortable.
So, how to conclude this brief discussion, feeling torn between a more academic and a more sporty form? To a young athlete asking me for advice on the spike to choose, I would say to try them all and then choose those which feel good and with which he feels very strong and adaptive, over time. He can follow his ambitions and reach higher levels, without ever losing sight of the primary objective: to improve, always.
Alessandro Bacci (17/9/1992), former 48.5 400-meter runner, is a coach in the field of speed and hurdles at Atletica Livorno 1950 and kinesiologist with a master's degree in Motor Sciences.
Since 2017, he has been particularly interested in spiked shoes, also presenting an experimental thesis starring a handcrafted 3D spiked shoe and the relationships between material and performance.
He works and lives in Livorno and continues his research, showing the news about the world of spiked shoes on his social profile TrackSpikes - From Dreams To The Track.