In 1984, 17 year old Zola Budd grabbed the headlines as the barefoot champion who broke the women’s 5 000m world record. She went on to break her own record twice, running barefoot. She was also twice the winner at the World Cross Country Championship in the UK and at the Los Angeles Olympics (1984) had the controversial collision with Mary Decker-Slaney (US) in the women’s 3000m final. Ironically the barefoot champion now promotes running shoes, albeit according to Budd, Newton running shoes, simulate barefoot running. At 45 years old, Budd is still a strong athlete and blisteringly fast runner and although she still likes to run barefoot she trains in trainers.
1 comments:
I'm astounded: Newton seem to be working within the cushioning / control paradigm, which flies in the face of barefoot or minimalist technique. (…though I do understand that some orthotics can sometimes be helpful.) This "force plate" technology acknowledges the importance of proprioception, (good for them) but I would have thought that those heels would upset a runner's form. Have I missed something? I seem to be having an equal and opposite reaction to Zola Budd's, but I've never seen a Newton shoe in the flesh, so I'll shut up now.
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