With the Olympics fast approaching, it comes as no surprise that Nike choose now to launch some of its most innovative footwear to date. Nike and the Olympics has been a great match for many years now. After all, who can forget Michael Johnson’s world-record breaking golden spikes?

Nike Zoom Victory and Nike Zoom Victory +

This summer’s new kid on the block is the Nike Zoom Victory spike (right), weighing in at a mere 93 grams it’s the lightest track spike ever produced. To put that into some sort of context, it’s the equivalent weight of a Snickers bar, and is the first shoe ever to break the 100 gram barrier.

The Zoom Victory utilizes the new ground-breaking Flywire technology, where high strength threads are placed only where support is required, reducing the amount of material needed for the upper shoe; thus making it lighter.

The inspiration for this new technology came from the engineering of suspension bridges, where strength is achieved with the minimal amount of materials. Embroidering this Flywire into the fabric gives the shoe extraordinary support that is sustainable throughout a middle-distance race.

The shoe was first tested last year, by middle-distance runner Alan Webb. In his first race wearing the Zoom Victory, he broke the American record for the mile, with a time of 3:49.61. Next to test the shoe was Bernard Lagat, who ran in both the 1500m and 5000m at the World Championships. He won both these races. Kara Goucher also medalled at the same World Champs, again wearing these spikes.

The idea behind the Nike Zoom Victory + (right) was to create a super minimal performance training shoe that translated the Nike Zoom Victory Track Spike’s revolutionary Flywire technology into something runners could wear every day.

But transforming a track spike’s elite technologies into a running shoe is never an easy process. Spikes are designed to be as minimal as possible, while running shoes need cushioning and extra support for all the mileage athletes rack up in daily workouts.

Nike’s design and development team was unwilling to sacrifice any of Flywire’s lightweight performance (even the Nike Swoosh was printed directly onto the upper instead of adding any extra material), but it needed to make footwear that could withstand frequent 10 to 15 mile runs. That process took well over a year, but the resulting success was the Nike Zoom Victory +.

Lunar Trainer and Lunar Racer

Nike has combined the Flywire technology with Lunalite Foam, another new development, to create both a running shoe, and an everyday trainer.

Lunarlite Foam has been 36 years in the making. Designers wanted to recreate Bill Bowerman’s iconic ‘waffle sole’, that is a classic piece of Nike design. The inspiration for the foam came not only from Bowerman’s shoe, but also a little further a field; space. Designer Kevin Hoffer found himself looking at images of astronauts bouncing around in space, and wanted to recreate this in his shoe.

Getting his wish, the Lunalite Foam was originally developed by the aerospace industry, before Nike adapted it for its own footwear range. Embedded with phylon, and with a foam pillow waffle outsole, the foam is able to spread out force more evenly to ensure that pressure isn’t compounded in one area of the foot.

As well as distributing pressure, early tests reported that runners wearing the foam felt like they could run further. Their legs didn’t feel as beat up after running and their recovery times seemed quicker.

The LunarRacer (above left) combines the two new technologies to form a running shoe perfect for distance races. After the success of the Zoom Victory, Nike wanted to use their innovation elsewhere; and the marathon seemed the perfect choice. The Luna Racer’s outsole follows the foot’s natural motion, while the Flywire technology provides support where needed. All the while the shoe remains comfortable thanks to the Lunarlite foam. Perfect for the marathon, or so participants in Beijing are hoping.

Similarly to the Racer, the LunarTrainer (above right) also makes use of the technology, this time in a more day-to-day training shoe. In keeping with the original inspiration, the Luna Trainer also features a rubber waffle outsole, perfect for increased durability.

- Nike has produced no less than 25 styles of footwear for this years Olympics, designed for sports including equestrian, taekwondo and BMX to name a few.

- Although initially designed for elite athletes you can get a pair for yourself too! The Nike Zoom Victory+, Nike LunarTrainer and Nike LunaRacer will all be available from Nike Town, London, and specialist running stores nationwide from July this year priced £85. Or, from July, you can buy online here: Nike Store ^[1].

- The Nike Zoom Victory Spike will be released next spring.

Rachel Stansfield, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine