ETHICAL EVALUATION BY SPANISH ATHLETES AND TRIATHLETES ON THE USE OF VAPORFLY TECH

Identifier:  imarina:9244714

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9244714

Authors:  de Andres-Sanchez, J.; de Torres Burgos, F.

Abstract:
Vaporfly technology (VFT) has disrupted road distance running. Among the ethical problems that any new technology can cause we can remark denaturing of sport, that it may be not accessible to all competitors and that its use suppose risk. From a survey of 252 athletes, we observed that the VFT had a positive ethical judgment (p <0.01). However, this judgement is not homogenous in all evaluated items (p<0.01). Likewise, gender (p<0.05), income level (p <0.01) and practicing triathlon instead of athletics (p <0.05) influence the ethical judgment. The VFT presents a perception closer to being preventive than generating injuries (p <0.05). The analysis of the Haake index on the evolution of world and Spanish records at various distance distances on the road suggests that the improvements in the records with TVF may be due to a logical evolution of the sport and not to its denaturation.