NEIL HALL/EPA
Sebastian Sawe, from Kenya, poses with sneakers after winning the London Marathon with a world record and the first time under two hours, 1:59:30, during the London Marathon.
The sub-two hour marathon has been pursued over the past decade. What has changed now is not just the ability of athletes, but the convergence of multiple performance-enhancing factors: improved training methodologies, advanced nutritional strategies and, crucially, dramatic innovations in… footwear.
For decades, the idea of a sub-two-hour marathon held an almost mythical place in endurance sport. That barrier finally fell in an official race at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26, when Kenyan Sabastian Sawe correu em 1:59:30followed moments later by the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha at 1:59:41.
It wasn’t just a new world record, it was a transformative moment that could redefine the limits of human endurance. The conditions were aligned. Two athletes breaking the barrier in the same race suggests this was not an isolated anomaly, but the arrival of a new level of performance.
However, as quickly as the celebrations began, the debate intensified: how much of this achievement belongs to the athlete, and how much to technology, specifically, the most recent generation of Adidas “super sneakers”?
At the heart of this transformation is the emergence of so-called “super sneakers” – running shoes highly developed to improve running economy.
The sneakers used in London, the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3represent the state of the art of this technology. Weighing just 97 gramsthese shoes are significantly lighter than previous elite running models. Its design incorporates three fundamental innovations:
- A carbon fiber plate: incorporated into the sole to provide rigidity and forward propulsion
- Advanced Foam (Lightstrike Pro Evo): Highly responsive cushioning that returns energy with each stride
- Ultralight materials on top: minimizing weight while maintaining structural integrity
Collectively, these features improve “running economy,” which is the amount of energy needed to maintain a given pace.
A Adidas claims there is an efficiency gain of around 1.6%which, over the course of a marathon, can translate into minutes saved.
This is not irrelevant. At the highest level, marginal gains of just 1% can be decisive.
Academic studies, cited by , on previous super sneakers, such as the series Vaporfly da Nikesuggest performance improvements on the order of 1–3% for elite runners. In marathon terms, this roughly equates to 2–4 minutes, more than enough to bridge the gap between 2:01 and sub-2:00 performances.
In fact, all sub-two-hour marathon performances to date, official or otherwise, have been achieved with shoes with carbon plate.
This consistency strongly indicates that the shoe technology is not just a contributory factor, but a necessary factor in current limits of human performance.
As New Atlas writes, the appearance of super sneakers inevitably generated controversy. Critics argue that this technology runs the rbait of compromising the integrity of sport by introducing an uneven playing field, particularly when access to the latest models is limited or prohibitively expensive.
In fact, the Adios Pro Evo 3 are not widely available and can cost hundreds of euros, with a Durability limited to perhaps just a single double marathon. This raises questions about equity and accessibility, especially for athletes outside of major sponsorship networks.
On the other hand, defenders argue that technological evolution has always been part of sport. From synthetic tracks to aerodynamic cycling equipment, innovation is often accepted as soon as it becomes standardized.
