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The first winner of the Vienna Marathon on Sunday was disqualified for wearing sneakers that did not meet race guidelines.
Race officials disqualified Ethiopia Derara Hurisa just an hour after crossing the finish line with a time of 2:09:22, three seconds ahead of the next participant. According to a tweet from Vienna City Marathon, Hurisa “had to be disqualified for wearing shoes that did not comply” with the marathon rules.
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The soles of running shoes of marathon participants cannot be thicker than four centimeters, officials said on Twitter. Hurisa’s soles were five centimeters thick. As such, officials named the next finalist, Leonard Langat of Kenya, the winner of the marathon with a time of 2:09:25.
As shoe companies produce innovative technologies to improve running performance, certain rules continue to guide what is allowed in competition. In January 2020, the governing body of athletics World Athletics prohibited models of running shoes with soles thicker than 4 centimeters or with more than one plate.
According to images and multiple reports, Hurisa wore the Adidas Adizero Prime X sneakers, which spear earlier this year as part of Adidas’ Adizero performance running collection. The Adizero Prime X has been specially designed for long distance running.
In a statement to Footwear News, a spokesperson for Adidas said the company will continue to support partner athletes wearing Adidas shoes that meet World Athletics guidelines.
“Adizero Prime X is an innovative concept running shoe supplied to our elite athletes for training purposes,†said the spokesperson. “It is designed without limits to push the boundaries of current racing technology and is consciously created outside of World Athletics guidelines.”
Langat wore the Adizero Adios Pro 2, a sneaker worn by several record-breaking Adidas athletes.
“As part of our ambition to unlock the possibilities of human potential, we will continue to evolve our elite offering by pushing the boundaries of race day technology,†said the spokesperson for Adidas.
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