Shadowing Practice: The Shoe That Broke Running - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
I'm wearing the real Team USA Olympic uniforms with one of the world's fastest super shoes.
2
And we're gonna cut it in half.
3
Because what's inside this shoe is part of a huge debate happening in sports right now.
4
The question is, when does sports gear get so good that it's actually cheating?
5
There's a ton of cool gear that's banned from sports for making athletes too good.
6
Like swimsuits that make a swimmer's body too streamlined.
7
Or gloves that make a receiver's hands too grippy or bats that let a player hit the ball too hard, or shoes that make a runner too freaking fast.
8
They call it tech doping, using physical gear to gain an unfair advantage.
9
In this video, I'm going to show you the banned technology that you won't see in the Olympics.
10
Oh, whoa, that's grippy.
11
And the cutting-edge tech that you will see that's on the very edge of what's allowed.
12
You might be thinking, hold on, no gear should give athletes an advantage.
13
But we don't run barefoot anymore.
14
We don't swim naked.
15
We use tech to play sports, and that tech keeps getting better, pushing forward what humans can do.
16
So where's the line?
17
That's what I really want to figure out.
18
This debate is about way more than sports.
19
In every part of our lives, technology pushes humans forward, and it's up to us to decide what do we want from it.
20
This video is about that question.
21
Let me show you the cutting edge of sports technology.
22
I am wearing the fastest suit in the world, and that's a fact.
23
The fastest suits in the world.
24
Technological doping.
25
It is cheating.
26
A weekend that changed distance running forever.
27
Nike's controversial Vaporfly shoe.
28
Fueling new controversy over the suits the swimmers are wearing.
29
Surpassing human capabilities.
30
Today I'm at Nike's test lab in Oregon to show you some of the world's best and most controversial sports equipment.
31
But first, if you were trying to decide whether to ban something from sports, How would you do it?
32
Here's where to start.
33
First, most regulators ask, is it dangerous?
34
To athletes or fans or both?
35
This is the big reason they give for banning steroids, but it applies to hardware too.
36
For example, in Major League Baseball, they're not allowed to use aluminum bats.
37
They have to use wooden ones.
38
Because aluminum would allow them to hit the ball so fast, they might kill people on the field or hurt people in the stands.
39
So if gear greatly increases the risk of injury, it might not be allowed.
40
But most of the cool tech that we're talking about doesn't increase danger.
41
It just makes athletes better.
42
So the next question they ask is, is it against the spirit of the sport?
43
But how do you define that exactly?
44
Spirit of the sport, it's intentionally vague.
45
So it gets broken up into smaller questions, like, can everyone use this tech?
46
Is it fair to record holders?
47
Does it artificially enhance a player's performance?
48
Let me give you some examples.
49
Try to decide what you think is right before I tell you what the rule makers chose.
50
This is the Olympics in 1972.
51
Do you notice anything missing?
52
Nobody's wearing goggles.
53
Four years later, the Olympics allowed them.
54
You see early adopters start to use them, and those athletes start winning.
55
Here's a chart showing swimming records by year.
56
That's when goggles were allowed.
57
Most people today would say allowing goggles was a good idea.
58
But then, something new caused another big spike.
59
In 2008, Speedo collaborated with NASA to make this, the Laser Racer.
60
This suit was so cool.
61
The fabric mimicked shark skin with these little channels that let water flow more easily.
62
It had these panels that sucked swimmers' bodies into a more streamlined position.
63
And people speculated that the way it trapped air made swimmers float more easily, which Speedo denied.
64
But it was clear this new tech was helping swimmers crush world records.
65
Athletes were doing things nobody thought was possible.
66
It was awesome.
67
You remember that Olympics when Michael Phelps won more gold medals than any human had ever won in a single Olympics ever?
68
he was wearing a laser racer.
69
Is that fair?
70
This new suit made the swimming world lose their minds.
71
The general manager of the US team said the records shouldn't count.
72
So, should this fancy super swimsuit be allowed?
73
Within a year, the swimming governing body voted to ban them.
74
The swimmers you see at the Olympics now are wearing suits made with only textile fabrics
75
that can only cover this much of their body.
76
I feel mixed about that.
77
We can't see well underwater, and our skin isn't textured like sharks, but goggles are allowed and these swimsuits aren't.
78
But on the other hand, we don't allow flippers.
79
There's a line somewhere.
80
It's just not always obvious.
81
Like prescription lenses in Olympic shooting.
82
Okay or not okay?
83
If you said okay, the regulators agree with you.
84
Olympic shooters are allowed to wear prescription lenses.
85
They can correct their vision.
86
They just can't enhance it.
87
Or how about this, sticky glue that makes it easier to catch a football.
88
Okay or not okay?
89
The NFL said not okay, but grippy gloves are fine.
90
Oh my goodness!
91
I love these questions because they get at what we think the whole point is of both sports and technology.
92
And of course, it's so messy.
93
But the messiest of all is the debate about running shoes and a record that was supposed to be impossible to beat.
94
He has done it!
95
Welcome to Nike's test lab.
96
I'm at Nike to answer a question I've been wondering for years.
97
Let me explain.
98
In 2019, I watched Eliud Kipchoge become the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours.
99
That is 4 minutes and 35 seconds per mile for 26.2 miles.
100
Here's what that speed looks like for most people.
101
This was supposed to be impossible.
102
But he did it.
103
And while the world celebrated Kipchoge's record, in professional running, all eyes turned to these.
104
He was wearing special prototype shoes, built to make him run faster.
105
In fact, studies showed that this design helped runners at the time go 2-3% faster than the next fastest shoe.
106
And regulators started saying that this shoe threatened the integrity of the sport.
107
But why this shoe?
108
If you look back at the history of running shoes, you'll see that over the last hundred years, they've gotten a lot better than 2-3%.
109
Early running shoes looked like this.
110
They're basically loafers with spikes.
111
People can run a lot faster in basically any running shoe today.
112
So why was this shoe all of a sudden so controversial?
113
Let me show you the answer.
114
This is the newest version of that same shoe design, and I'm about to cut it open.
115
So this is the successor of what Eliyuk Hachoggi beat the two-hour marathon in.
116
Yeah.
117
Awesome.
118
all kinds of technological development.
119
It's a thing of beauty and we're going to destroy it.
120
There's no chance I can put it through, is there?
121
You could guide me.
122
If I lose a finger, it's my fault.
123
Uh, Lindsey, what do you think?
124
Well, we do have her on camera saying it will be her fault.
125
If I cut my finger off, I'm saying it to camera, it's not Nike's fault.
126
Sweet Jesus.
127
No, this is fine.
128
Come on, it's fine.
129
It'll be fine.
130
It'll be fine.
131
It's gonna be great.
132
You got it?
133
Woo!
134
Look at this!
135
Lots of companies now make their own version of a super shoe.
136
And people say they've changed running sports forever.
137
But how, exactly?
138
At a high level, every super shoe today has three key sections.
139
The upper, which holds your foot the outsole, which hits the ground, and the midsole, which mostly determines how much of the energy
140
that a runner exerts down into the ground is returned to boost them into their next stride.
141
This is called energy return, and it's a huge deal in running.
142
Nike's new super shoe specifically maximized energy return by building in a way taller stack of new, cushy foam and a carbon fiber plate that acts like a lever,
143
springing the runner forward, which outside the shoe looks like this right here.
144
They even included special air pockets for extra bounce.
145
Before super shoes, a good energy return rate was about 60 to 65 percent.
146
Now, it's more like 80 percent way more of the runner's energy that they get to reuse.
147
I wanted to show you what that energy return feels like.
148
But to do it, Nike didn't just give me their shoes.
149
They let me try the real Team USA Olympic uniforms.
150
So I'm wearing this, and this, and this, and most importantly, these.
151
Okay, now go away.
152
I feel awesome.
153
Let's do this.
154
They didn't just test the shoe, they tested me.
155
They analyzed my running style.
156
They showed me how these uniforms deal with sweat.
157
And hardest of all, they made me run in 95 degree heat at 70% humidity.
158
Some of your cameras might not work super well in here because they might fog up.
159
What speed would you like to run at today?
160
I'd like to go fast enough to give you some real information.
161
I'll just be right outside the window.
162
So I'll look at you.
163
Thumbs up means I can go a little bit faster.
164
Thumbs down means a little bit slower.
165
Okay, put me in, coach.
166
Yeah, I did not fully understand what I was in for.
167
I don't know how to do that.
168
So I have to go as fast as you'll ever go.
169
I could feel the energy return.
170
It feels like a trampoline on my feet.
171
When super shoes were introduced, just like the swimmers with the laser racer, runners began to crush world records.
172
Marathon times saw the biggest increase in 50 years.
173
People started complaining that the shoes were giving runners energy, but that's not how energy return works.
174
All the energy has to come from the runner, and anyone who runs knows it's not easy.
175
I'm reaching a point where I can't talk casually anymore.
176
She's getting hot.
177
She's been running for two and a half minutes.
178
World's best marathoners can run in this temperature at faster speeds than this for two plus hours.
179
If you're up for it, we'll have you go for about six more minutes.
180
Okay!
181
How you feeling?
182
So fun, right?
183
That's great.
184
You got good sweat going all over the place.
185
Beating up over here.
186
Drifting.
187
Look at this.
188
So, running shoes that make you faster.
189
Okay or not okay?
190
Regulators decided something in the middle.
191
They tried to restrict how much energy return super shoes could give.
192
by implementing a 40-millimeter foam height limit and saying shoes can't have more than one carbon fiber plate.
193
Kipchoge's shoes barely fit these requirements, but they were prototypes, which felt unfair.
194
So regulators added a rule saying
195
that all shoes had to be available for anyone to buy at least four months before they were used in competition.
196
These rules were pretty much aimed at Nike.
197
And back then, Nike wasn't happy about it.
198
They issued a statement saying the rules would stifle innovation.
199
So I asked the head of Nike's sport research lab about it now.
200
Why did Nike feel that way at the time and do you still feel that way now?
201
There was a number of reasons we were pushing back and worrying about stifling innovation.
202
I think it's like just a moral obligation to keep pushing forward.
203
Our goal is not to make the world's fastest athletes faster by putting fans behind them and pushing them down the field.
204
It's not interesting to us.
205
That's really the key.
206
It's all about pushing the human body forward.
207
But that brings us to the last big debate about technology in sports.
208
What if the tech that you're debating is part of someone's body?
209
You might remember this guy, Oscar Pistorius.
210
He was the first person to qualify and compete in the Olympics with these, running blades.
211
This was a moment that got a lot of people talking about what's fair and what's not in sports.
212
You might not know him yet, but that's Blake Lieber.
213
He qualified for the Olympics eight years after Pistorius, but he wasn't allowed to compete.
214
I had, what, the fifth fastest time in the world against able-bodied athletes, which qualified me for the Olympic Games.
215
I was abruptly stopped.
216
I had to take my case to the Court of Arbitration of Sport.
217
The Olympics had allowed Pistorius, but they now wanted to revisit the rules.
218
Should running blades be allowed?
219
If you let people wear glasses for shooting, meaning they can correct a disability that they have, aren't prosthetics the same?
220
And how do you decide what's a correction and what's an enhancement?
221
Turns out, tests.
222
A lot of tests.
223
But dots on my blades to see the spring compression, to see what type of energy return are we getting out of the prosthetic legs
224
and how does that compare to somebody who have their legs?" Researchers found
225
that Blake's prosthetic legs made him no faster at sprinting or gave him better endurance, but they did make him worse at accelerating and rounding curves.
226
Then the opponent's side argued that prosthetics are lighter and they don't require any of the body's oxygen.
227
It was seeming like a toss-up.
228
But then… But the one thing that they got me on specifically was called the MASH rule, max allowable standing height.
229
use this rule for Pistorius.
230
But now, they decided Blake couldn't compete because his blades made him taller than he would be naturally.
231
But Blake was born without the bottom part of his legs.
232
He has never had a full height naturally with his legs.
233
They calculated it using measurements from other parts of his body to tell him what his height would theoretically have been.
234
And to make matters worse, those calculations were based on only small studies of white and Asian men.
235
But the whole idea of using averages for athletes is tricky.
236
Most people's wingspan is roughly their height, but Michael Phelps' wingspan is three whole inches taller than he is.
237
That's part of what makes him so great.
238
But in the end...
239
This is the rules that said, we're sorry Blake, but you have to drop your legs by six inches.
240
And changing your height is not the same as changing your swimsuit.
241
I trained at 6'2 my whole life.
242
Now I'm 5'9", so I'll go reach or I'll go run or my back went out.
243
And the question, the million dollar question is what's fair and what's not fair?
244
If somebody was born with bad vision and they wear glasses, you wouldn't regulate that.
245
I could try to wear glasses, but I don't need glasses.
246
Really the conversation that we're talking about is a fear or a concern that technology will get so good,
247
people on blades will actually outperform everybody.
248
Is that what people are really talking about?
249
I think, yeah, I mean, I think that's the conversation that is really at hand.
250
It wasn't me trying to compete, it was the idea of the Pandora's box that it could potentially open up.
251
I don't agree with it, but I understand.
252
We have come so far in improving what humans can do.
253
Today we have better nutrition and training and strategy and recovery and, of course, technology.
254
The whole point of technology is to make people better.
255
To make our lives easier, to make us more capable, to make things that we never thought were possible come true.
256
But how far and how fast
257
and exactly in what direction technology pushes us is the big debate that we're going to keep on having.
258
Far beyond sports.
259
Should we regulate it?
260
Should we tame it down?
261
Should we allow it?
262
Should we integrate it?
263
I think it's wrong to stop.
264
I think it's, you can say it's unethical to introduce these things to sport.
265
It's unethical to stop inventing and to stop pushing human potential forward.
266
And personally, I can't wait to see what humans are capable of.
267
Welcome to Nike's test lab.
268
That's going to be the ending.
📺 Same Channel
B119
Antarctica Is Bigger Than You Think
American AccentUniversity Students
B21
Formula 1 Cars, Explained with Max Verstappen
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
Why Gravity Is A Lie, explained in Zero G
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
Formula 1, Explained for Rookies
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
How Big Is The Biggest Black Hole?
American AccentUniversity Students
B24
Humanity’s Real Plan to Stop This Asteroid (Feat. Mark Rober)
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
I Wrote a NEW Sci-Fi with Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Would You Use An Artificial Womb? (I Would)
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B23
Something’s Happening to the Ozone Hole
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
What If The Earth Was Flat?
American AccentUniversity Students
B22
The New Hunt for the Colossal Squid
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
The Ocean Is Deeper Than You Think. We Need Better Maps.
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B223
The Future Mark Zuckerberg Is Trying To Build
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B2The Big Lie About Nuclear Waste
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2How Did Dinosaurs Actually Go Extinct?
University Students
B2The Sun Is Weirder Than You Think
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1What If I Fell Into A Black Hole?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1How Will The Universe Die?
American AccentUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
✨ Recommend Video
B22
190 sentences
He’s always wrong
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
125 sentences
Top 10 Best Basketball Shoes Of 2026
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
256 sentences
Why Americans are injecting themselves with unregulated ‘miracle’ drugs | On the Ground
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B11
130 sentences
How Fast Fashion Is Impacting the Environment | 🎧 English on the Go! | Intermediate
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B23
179 sentences
How England’s football league is breaking the sport
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
201 sentences
This Ball is Impossible to Hit
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B21
396 sentences
Training W/ Real Life Vampire (Anti-aging)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
276 sentences
Where did all the minimalists go?
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
629 sentences
Last Cheater Standing Wins $10,000!
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2114 sentences
Why the Best Sport Climbers Dominate Bouldering Too | ft. Adam Ondra
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
21 sentences
Is tennis the most violent non-contact sport? | Tom Holland | Dish Podcast
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Exploring Tech in Sports: A Window into English Learning
The video dives into a fascinating debate: when does sports gear cross the line into "tech doping"? From super swimsuits to controversial running shoes, it asks big questions about fairness and human potential. This engaging topic isn’t just for sports fans—it’s a goldmine for English learners. The dialogue blends casual speech with technical terms, making it perfect for shadow speech practice and improving pronunciation.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "Where's the line?" – A common way to ask about boundaries (e.g., "We all need fun, but where's the line between playful and rude?")
- "Crush world records" – To beat records by a large margin (e.g., "She trained hard and crushed the school's 100m record.")
- "Mixed feelings" – Having both positive and negative opinions (e.g., "I have mixed feelings about the new policy—it helps some, but hurts others.")
- "Push forward" – To keep making progress (e.g., "Despite challenges, we must push forward with our goals.")
- "Tossup" – A situation where the outcome is unclear (e.g., "The game is a tossup—either team could win.")
Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video
This video’s mix of storytelling and debate makes it ideal for IELTS speaking practice. Here’s how to use it:
- Listen and repeat short segments: Pause after 5-10 seconds of dialogue. Focus on mimicking the speaker’s rhythm and stress (e.g., "Is that FAIR?"). This boosts improve english pronunciation.
- Highlight key terms: Words like "streamlined," "energy return," and "prosthetics" are technical but used in context. Repeat them to build vocabulary.
- Practice expressing opinions: The video asks, "Should super shoes be allowed?" Use phrases like "I have mixed feelings" or "On one hand..." to respond. This mirrors IELTS speaking tasks.
- Speed up gradually: Once you’re comfortable, shadow the video at full speed. This trains your mouth to keep up with natural speech—critical for real-world communication.
Learning English with YouTube videos like this turns passive watching into active practice. Whether you’re into sports or just curious about tech, this content keeps you engaged while building fluency. So hit play, pause, and repeat—your speaking skills will thank you!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | might not be allowed · were allowed · be allowed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has done · they've gotten · they've changed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | anyone who runs · somebody who have |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.