Nothing to see here: Norwegian team protests Gustav Iden’s shoes in Abu Dhabi

After the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) race in Abu Dhabi we reported that Ironman world champion Gustav Iden’s results was pending due to a protest about his shoes. Today we got the heads up from World Triathlon with more details on the protest. Turns out that it was Iden’s own federation who filed the protest. Not sure what the idea was there – maybe a protest about the hype many of us made about the shoes he wore at the Ironman World Championship in Kona last October?

World Triathlon bans super shoes (like the ones Gustav Iden wore in Kona) starting in 2023

World Triathlon received a protest from a representative from the Norwegian Federation regarding the shoes used by athlete #41, Gustav Iden (NOR), in the World Triathlon Championship Series Abu Dhabi, held on March 3.

The Head Referee received the protest. The Athlete’s shoes were collected following the protest and sent to World Triathlon Head Office in Lausanne for further inspection, according to the World Triathlon Rules.

According to the protocol, World Triathlon contacted World Athletics, who has identified and confirmed that those shoes were listed in their approved shoes list before 3rd March under the name ON SHOES CloudTRI 1 per their specifications, therefore the protest is dismissed.    

The pair of shoes will be returned to the athlete, and the results are confirmed as stand.

Were Iden and the Norwegian coaches using the protest as a way to ensure there were no questions about his equipment? As we reported, Iden ran in a pair of prototype shoes in Kona that would not be allowed at World Triathlon and Ironman events now, but were legal at the time.

You can see a list of the shoes that are legal at World Triathlon and Ironman events here: https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/technical-information