What shoes do Kelvin Kiptum and Sifan Hassan wear? All you need to do about the footwear donned by the two runners in Chicago Marathon 2023

Long-distance runners Kelvin Kiptum and Sifan Hassan wore Nike Dev 163 prototype shoes, the pre-released Alphafly 3 at the Chicago Marathon 2023. These super shoes are scheduled to launch in January 2024.

However, months before their release, these innovative shoes helped Kiptum and Hassan to achieve great fate in Chicago.

At the 45th edition of the Chicago Marathon, Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum smashed the marathon world record by defeating two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge’s 2022 Berlin Marathon timing. The 23-year-old rocked the 42.195 km marathon course by running it within 2 hours and 35 seconds. It broke Kipchoge’s record by 34 seconds.

Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon

Moreover, Kelvin Kiptum raised many eyebrows by finishing the marathon within two hours. Although Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour barrier marathon in 2019 by clocking 1:59:40, it was not considered as he used several measures not permitted under World Athletics rules.

Ethiopian-Durch middle and long-distance runner Sifan Hassan who previously won the London Marathon in April, also won the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. The 30-year-old ran the second-fastest women’s marathon of all time by smashing the course record by 30 seconds to finish in 2:13:44.

Undoubtedly, a small contributor to the super speedy timing of both athletes was the Nike shoes that they wore on the marathon track. They donned the Alphafly 3, a Nike Dev 163 prototype shoe, which is legal under World Athletics rules.

These super shoes are built with ultra-thick and responsive foams, carbon-fiber plates, and more modern technology to provide every advantage to athletes to run their fastest.

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Unlike Kelvin Kiptum, Eliud Kipchoge's shoes were banned in 2019

Eluid Kipchoge at 2023 BMW Berlin-Marathon

In 2019, Kenyan-long distance runner Eluid Kipchoge made history by running the 42.2km marathon track within two hours at the Ineos159 Challenge in Vienna. He made headlines by finishing the race by clocking 1:59:40.2. Also, in that race, the runner had donned a prototype for the first of Nike’s Vaporfly.

However, Kipchoge’s two-hour mark was not recognized as a record by World Athletics. Certain factors like his use of pacemakers, hydration provided by bicycle, and a lack of open competition hindered the athlete from calling it a record.

Later on, the World Athletics banned the Vapofly shoes and set new rules for sneakers allowed in competition.

As per the present sneaker rules by World Athletics, sneakers must have a midsole no thicker than 40mm and not more than one stiff plate. Moreover, the sneakers must be available for purchase by athletes in the open retail market for at least four months.

Although the Nike Alphafly 3 is not available in the market as of now, it has been approved by World Athletics for use until December 3.