Paris, August 9: Revolutionary shoes designed by scientists to dampen the vibrations from running may help athletes to smash world records in next month's Olympic Games, New Scientist reports in its latest issue.The brainchild of Canadian scientists, the shoes comprise conventional materials which are fine-tuned to absorb the shock to the feet that comes from pounding down the track.By manipulating the viscosity, elasticity and stiffness of the shoe's sole, performance can be boosted by up to four per cent, the inventors say.For Olympic marathon runners, a four-per cent improvement could translate into a gain of four minutes.``That's the difference between finishing first or 22nd,'' Benno Nigg of Calgary University's Human Performance Laboratory, which designed the shoes, told the British science weekly.``We have athletes that have tuned, spiked shoes at the Olympics. We think we will see some World records.''To recreate the leg vibrations caused by running, the team rapped volunteers onto a suspended bed, which was then swung like a pendulum so that their heels struck the wall every two seconds.By measuring the electrical activity in their leg muscles, the researchers found that muscles naturally tighten to help dampen vibrations in the surrounding leg tissue.This response requires energy from the muscles, which is tiring and inefficient, so the researchers looked for a shoe that could do the job.They found that a relatively soft sole is the bestdampener - but the shoes have to be individually ``tuned'' to the athlete's vibrations, using a blend of materials.Depending on their training and build, people's muscles resonate at different frequencies, which could explain why there is no such thing as a Sports shoe that suits all.The wonder shoes may also reduce the wear and tear on athletes legs caused by repetitive training, the Canadian team believes.
