Last week, World Athletics announced changes to athletic shoe rules and regulations.
From 1 November 2024, the permitted sole thickness for all track and field shoes will be simplified to a stack height of 20mm. Currently athletic shoes are allowed to be between 20 and 25mm and this will remain in place until 2024 in order to give manufacturers sufficient notice to create new spikes.
World Athletics’ Chief Executive, Jon Ridgeon, commented on the changes:
“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, following on from the work in 2019 of its predecessor, the Assistance Review Group. There is still more to do but I would like to thank the Working Group, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and the shoe companies for their openness and collaboration in finding solutions that help support innovation on the one hand while ensuring innovation in shoe technology does not create unfairness or a paradigm shift in athletic performances on the other.”
For more information on the recent changes to athletic shoe rules and regulations, visit worldathletics.org.
