Speed or Science? “Super Shoes” Spark ‘Tech Doping’ Debate in Athletics

Speed or Science? “Super Shoes” Spark ‘Tech Doping’ Debate in Athletics

The Record That Sparked a Firestorm: Super Shoes and Tech Doping: The Marathon Controversy On April 27, 2026, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya crossed the finish line at the TCS London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds, becoming the first man to officially break the two-hour barrier in race conditions. He shaved 65 seconds off the previous world record of 2:00:35, set by Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023. Notably, Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha als…

Sporticast: Is It the Shoes!?!

On the 547th Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including how to digest a notable distance running record that fell over the weekend. Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run an official marathon in less than two hours Sunday in London, […]

Is It the Shoes?

Updated at 11:05 p.m. ET on April 27, 2026 To understand the significance of someone running a marathon in less than two hours, you also need to understand that, until recently, the notion of this actually happening was truly, utterly absurd. Sure, a physiologist named Michael Joyner had floated the idea that such a feat might be humanly possible in a journal paper way back in 1991. But his peers laughed off the idea, and not much changed over t…