Adidas serves Pro-Plate system

Adidas is to introduce new trainer technology to the running shoe market with the launch in April of the Adidas Equipment Gazelle Pro-Plate.

The technology used in the trainer, which was showcased by the Adidas-sponsored British Olympic squad in Sydney last year, is based on the stiffened metatarsal joints found in the paws of cheetahs, lions and other fast-moving animals. Metatarsals are the bones in the foot. A stiffened carbon fibre plate is put into the sole of the trainer, which Adidas claims stops feet overflexing, thus conserving energy.

An Adidas spokeswoman says: “Most trainer manufacturers are obsessed with cushioning and bounce but this wastes energy. This trainer is taking technology in the opposite direction.”

Designed by the Adidas innovation team at the company’s research and development centre in Germany, the trainer, in development since 1998, is aimed at the serious runner.

In response to the unveiling in November last year of rival Nike’s Nike Shox trainer, which uses a cushioning system that took 16 years’ of research, testing and development, Adidas is to bring forward its marketing push in an attempt to beat competition from its biggest competitor on the high street. The Gazelle will retail at £100, Shox retails at £120 a pair.

Adidas will start targeting the media in the coming weeks with a feature on the technology behind the shoe that will air on Tomorrow’s World.

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