Runners in action
World Athletics has launched a new shoe check application to make it even easier for athletes, coaches, officials and shoe manufacturers to monitor the compliance of competition footwear. The application is web-based and can be accessed at certcheck.worldathletics.org.
The current athletic shoe regulations were introduced in 2022 to establish a transparent, objective and fair set of requirements, and to protect the integrity of the sport. The shoes that athletes can wear under these regulations vary between disciplines, with stack height, embedded plates and availability all taken into account. Specific regulations are in place for development shoes, which are prototypes that a shoe manufacturer would like to test in competitions before introducing them to the retail market. It is the responsibility of athletes to make sure that the shoes they are wearing in competition are approved and can be worn in the specific discipline.
Previously, all approved shoes featured on a static PDF list that could only be manually checked. Now, the new shoe check application allows users to search for a specific shoe and provides all the relevant information once the model name or model number of the shoe is entered. Being able to search the model number – if provided by the manufacturer – is particularly useful for athletes and officials, given that the model name is not always printed on the shoe. A picture of the shoe is also shown, allowing for easy verification that the correct shoe has been selected (only the colourway may be different).
In addition to the search functionality for individual shoes, the shoe check application also provides a full list showing all shoes that have been approved. For a more condensed overview, the list can be filtered by the individual manufacturers.
Currently, more than 700 shoes – including spikes and road footwear – are listed in the application. Once a shoe is searched, the application will confirm whether it is approved and if so, for which disciplines. It will also state whether there is a timescale on that approval or a restriction on which competitions the shoe can be worn in. In addition, it will list whether the shoe is a development shoe, in which case it cannot be worn at World Athletics Series events or Olympic Games. For a publicly available shoe, the date from which it is available for purchase will be shown.
As well as being a more convenient way of searching and displaying information, the new system is always accurate as shoes are added to the application instantly with the approval. Therefore, the provided information is always up to date.
The athletic shoe regulations are available for download from the Book of Rules section of the World Athletics website under ‘Book C: Competition’. Frequently asked questions as well as the shoe control guidelines are among the relevant documents that are available for download from the Technical Information section under ‘Athletic Shoes’.
World Athletics