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Trainer Spotting
Herald (formerly Glasgow Herald) (25 March 1996)
It's an all too familiar scenario to parents across the country. Weeks of alternate wheedling and sulking concluding in a compromise that
pleases no one - a pair of trainers that cost a lot more than you'd bargained for, but can't compare with the latest hi-tech model your
fashion-conscious teenager coveted. Hostilities die down for a few days, only to flare up again when you receive a frosty letter from school
reminding you of your parental duty to support their policy on uniform. Having effected a surreptitious switch of footwear at the bus-stop,
your insubordinate offspring has been spotted by the Headmistress.
Even the French, who find our attitude to uniform rather quaint if not positively eccentric, are trying to dissuade young people from wearing
trainers to school. As the headteacher of one school in Bergerac put it in Le Canard Enchaîné: "If you allow trainers, pupils wear the same
shoes all day long, including sports lessons. You can imagine the result - the classroom smells like a farmyard!"
The origins of high technology footwear go back to the Mexico Olympics in 1968 when tartan athletics tracks were introduced for the first
time. Fourteen world records fell that year, and the trend continued as more and more stadiums adopted the new surface. But there was a
price to pay. Athletes weren't used to competing on hard surfaces, and before long doctors noticed a marked increase in the number of
injuries such as Achilles tendon and cartilage problems. They nicknamed it the 'tartan syndrome'.
However, it wasn't until 1977 that a Swiss researcher identified the cause of the problem, a discovery which led to a revolution in shoe
manufacturing techniques. When an athlete is running on a hard surface, his spinal column shudders each time his foot hits the ground.
Even a gentle jog can produce an impact three times his body weight. Ever since, manufacturers have spent millions of pounds developing
new ways of cushioning the force of this impact, until today some of them claim reductions of up to 52%.
Yet most of the teenagers who buy top-of-the-range hi-tech trainers rarely go near a sports track. So why is it that wearing the latest
model is so important if you value your street cred?
The French word for trainer is basket, short for basketball, and this is where it all started - on the basketball court. In America, basketball
stars are cult figures, especially amongst ethnic minority groups, for this sport is one of the few avenues open to young blacks aspiring to
climb the social ladder. From there it spread to other young people, and, as with most American trends, it wasn't long before the latest
craze had crossed the Atlantic.
Today, the giants of the sports shoe industry are engaged in a cut-throat battle to cling onto their share of the market. Their weapons - a
plethora of new models, each one more technologically advanced than the one before, and vast sums spent on advertising and marketing.
Basketball heroes Shaquille O'Neale and Michael Jordan, football idols Ryan Giggs and Ian Wright, star athletes Daley Thompson and
Linford Christie - all of these have lent their names to leading models, ensuring that to wear any other make is "totally sad". The music
world too exerts its influence. Adidas were lagging behind until the 'Gazelle', worn by Madonna and other female vocalists, became all the
rage with young girls. They're not as hi-tech as Nike or Reebok, but they're cheaper, and they're just the thing for an evening out.
Bemused parents watch their daughters spend hours perfecting a sophisticated appearance only to cap it all - or foot it all - with this
low-cut, striped shoe reminiscent of the 70's ...
© Alison Thomas
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