Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri is looking to make Olympic history this summer in Paris, if not for her podium placement, then for her footwear.
The middle-distance runner, who won silver at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics in the 5,000 metres event, will be competing in a brand new type of running shoe developed by Swiss company On. As the only woman to hold world titles in cross country, outdoor and indoor track events, Obiri's choice of footwear is telling.
Called the Cloudboom Strike LS, it is created using a continuous thread of thermoplastic film that is sprayed onto a carbon fibre mould. Bonded with heat rather than glue, the shoe is then coloured by inkjet printer.
With a sock-like fit, the finished shoe has no seams or laces, and offers extreme lightness, with the men's shoe weighing only 170 grams, an impressive 100 grams less than its competitors. In a sport where records are measured in fractions of a second, athletes are looking to reduce weight anywhere they can.
While the shoe is groundbreaking and could herald in new era of competitive footwear, Obiri admits to being unimpressed when On presented her with the new trainers. Speaking with The New York Times, she explained, “The first time I saw the shoes, I said, ‘No. I can’t run with these.'” Despite her reservations, Obiri wore them to compete in the 2024 Boston Marathon, which she won.
Now she is bringing this brand new technology to the Paris Olympics.
However, these shoes are not the only innovations that will appear at the coming games. With the 2024 event widely anticipated to be a notably fashionable event, in homage to host city Paris's role as centre of the fashion world, other brands are striving to bring cutting-edge design and ideas to the competition.
The Jamaican team is being dressed by Puma, not for the first time but this year's outfits use state-of-the-art fabrics and aerodynamic tailoring. Speaking at the unveiling of the new kit, Puma chief executive Arne Freundt explained that each kit is a marriage of fashion and speed, via highly technical materials.
With Puma having sponsored the Jamaican team since 2002, the newest uniform is made from “engineered jacquard fabric" for improved heat reduction and breathability, that uses “thermoadapt technology" to help regulate body temperature to enable optimum performance.
In addition, the shape of each piece has been carefully mapped too. "The cut lines have been strategically placed to accentuate the physique of the athletes… that emphasises the beauty of an athlete in motion,” Freundt explained.
Elsewhere, trainer company Cariuma has created outfits for skateboard competitors from three nations taking part in this summer's games – Portugal, Slovakia and The Netherlands.
The Brazilian brand is bringing its core focus on sustainability to Paris with the kits being manufactured in Portugal to reduce delivery emissions, while the material is made from recycled PET bottles, and requires 90 per cent less water than virgin polyester, and only a third of the energy to make.
