World Athletics: New regulations for all athletics shoes from 2024

World Athletics has brought in new regulations for all athletics shoes to be used in track and field events. The governing body has decided that the sole thickness for all athletics shoes will be simplified to a stack height of 20mm. The new regulations will come into effect from November 1, 2024.

The current regulation for shoe sole thickness is between 20mm to 25mm. It also depends on the type of event and the sole thickness can go up to 40mm for road races.

World Athletics, in a statement, said the timeline is agreed to give shoe manufacturers enough notice. This is because the governing body realized that the manufacturers had made a "significant investment" in shoes with a sole thickness between 20-25mm.

World Athletics' Chief Executive Jon Ridgeon, in a statement, said a lot of background work had gone into decision making.

"There has been an enormous amount of background work and meetings held both internally and externally on our shoe rules since the inception of the Working Group on Athletic Shoes in June 2020", he said.

He added:

"There is still more to do, but I would like to thank the Working Group, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry and the shoe companies for their openness and collaboration in finding solutions."

Shoe technology is a major part in athletics

Shoe technology has been in the spotlight since records started to tumble, with the governing body trying to draw a line between innovation and giving athletes an unfair advantage.

Norwegian 400 meters hurdler Karsten Warholm shaved 0.76 of a second from his world record at this year's Tokyo Olympics. It is a massive margin in a one-lap race and he warned that shoe technology was hurting athletes' credibility.

World Athletics said athletic shoes must not contain any embedded "sensing or intelligent" technology now or in the future.