Inside ASICS' Lab Powering Athletes at the World Championships

Ahead of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, which began on September 13, Japanese sportswear giant ASICS unveiled its Institute of Sport Science in Kobe's Nishi Ward to the press. The facility serves as a development hub for running shoes and other products designed for elite athletes.

For the world championships, ASICS is providing its contracted athletes with the latest shoes that incorporate the institute's cutting-edge technologies. This makes the event a test not only for the athletes but also for the company's development team.

A Hub for Innovation

The institute was completed in 1990 and is unique in its ability to handle all aspects of research and development in-house. It covers everything from production technology to material analysis, allowing for a wide range of experimental approaches.

Shuhei Takemura, the institute's director, explained, "We scientifically analyze and evaluate human movement and turn the data into commercial products."

The facility is equipped with advanced technologies to support product development. It includes a chemical analysis room for researching shoe materials, a CAE (computer-aided engineering) room for creating product models, and a weather simulator to test products. The institute also has extensive equipment to measure and analyze individual athletes' movements in detail to maximize performance.

New Shoes for Tokyo

During the press preview, an employee runner wearing 68 motion-capture markers ran on a test track while multiple cameras tracked their movements. Motion analysis data appeared on monitors in real time. The data showed the runner's form, cadence, stride, arm swing, center-of-gravity movements, and individual movement patterns.

For the World Athletics Championships, ASICS updated existing models to make them lighter and improve cushioning. As Takemura noted, "Athletes are very sensitive to injuries, so we also paid close attention to stability during running."

The company offers three types of shoes. The "stride-style" is for runners who want to cover more distance with fewer steps. The "cadence-style" helps runners extend their stride while maintaining step frequency. There is also an ultra-lightweight model, weighing just 129 grams per shoe.

"We hope athletes can achieve their maximum performance," said Takemura.

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(Read the article in Japanese.)

Author: The Sankei Shimbun