A study published Thursday says small clip-on inserts fitted to running shoes may have helped change the finishing order at this month’s Baltic Autumn Road Cup. The men’s 10km (6.2-mile) race in Riga was won by 0.4 seconds; researchers say similar attachments were worn by seven of the 12 fastest finishers across the event’s elite races.
The paper, published in the Baltic Journal of Sport Engineering, combines results from 312 finishers at four Baltic road races with a controlled trial involving 48 club runners. Its authors found that runners wearing a flexible polymer toe clip ran 1.2% faster on average in the trial, equivalent to about 29 seconds over a 10km race completed in 40 minutes.
The edge underfoot
Lead author Karoline Nedergaard, a biomechanics researcher at the Baltic Centre for Human Movement, said the clips altered how runners pushed off the ground. “They look like a minor accessory, but the trial suggests they can change the mechanics of every step,” she said. The study does not name individual athletes or claim that any runner broke a rule.
At the Riga contest on 4 October, researchers recorded footwear used by elite finishers and compared their results with athletes of similar age, pace history and training volume. The clips appeared on 39 of the 312 shoes examined. In that observational group, wearers’ median times were 1.1% faster after the researchers adjusted for those factors.
Nedergaard stressed that race data alone cannot prove the attachments caused the difference. But the trial, in which each runner completed efforts both with and without the clip, strengthens the case that the add-on itself can improve performance. The paper says the effect was clearest during repeated accelerations, such as the surges common in a close finish.
Officials weigh a rule change
The Baltic Athletics Council, which oversees regional championships, said it had asked its equipment panel to assess whether the attachments meet current shoe regulations. Council secretary Evelyn Drengs said officials would issue guidance before the Baltic indoor season begins in November. “Nobody should arrive at a start line unsure whether a piece of kit gives them an advantage their rival cannot use,” she said.
The council’s rules restrict the structure of competition shoes but do not specifically mention removable toe clips. Drengs said inspectors could ask competitors to show their footwear before a race while the panel considers whether a new restriction is needed. Any change would apply across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, rather than only at the Riga event.
Some coaches urged caution. Sports scientist Miguel Ángel Fernández, who was not involved in the study, said the trial’s 48 runners were enough to justify further testing but not a blanket ban. “A small average gain is not the same as a guaranteed advantage for every athlete,” he said, adding that fit, running style and course surface could all affect the result.
The paper’s authors say the attachments are sold as ordinary running accessories, not as specialist racing equipment, and can be fitted without altering the shoe itself. The council has not named a manufacturer or set a deadline for its decision. For athletes preparing for the next regional race, the question is now whether a cheap clip can be treated as harmless kit—or as an edge that must be regulated.
