Kenyan distance runner and two time Olympic silver medalist, Hellen Obiri, is set to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but not merely because of her physical prowess, but rather her choice of footwear.
Obiri will be competing in On’s Cloudboom Strike LS, which is a spray-on shoe, made by a robot in under ten minutes.
LS, which stands for LightSpray, is the trademarked name of the technology used to create these futuristic shoes, and it will be the first time anything like this is utilised in official competition, nevertheless The Olympics.
By placing your foot form on the robotic platform, the top of the shoe is literally sprayed directly onto the foot, a process which takes just a few minutes.
The upper part of the shoe is the hardest to craft due to the intricacy of stitching, glue, wires, and adaptable fabric used to adhere to every sort of terrain, especially something like running. That is what makes this technology so impressive.
“Modern shoemaking is not so modern,” said Ilmarin Heitz, senior director of footwear at On. “It’s just using 2D patterns, and we’re trying to wrap them around a very complex 3D shape.” Heitz added that due to the LightSpray being so incredibly form fitting, athletes actually prefer to wear the shoes without socks.
However, when Obiri first saw the shoes, her immediate reaction was “No, I can’t run with these.” She added, “In the changing room, even my colleagues were saying, ‘It’s a joke. You can’t use these shoes for a marathon.'”
However, after much hesitation, Obiri decided to try them, eventually wearing them at The Boston Marathon back in April, which she ended up winning. Coincidence? Apparently not.
“When you trust the shoes, you have that mentality, like, ‘I’m going to run fast,'” Obiri said about the futuristic footwear.
On, the company behind the shoe, also boasts that the innovative technology doesn’t simply reduce production time, but also decreases 75% of the carbon footprint.
Safe to say, curious eyes will be glued to Obiri’s shoes at the 2024 Olympics.
