Talk:Saysh

Historical precedent for Olympic athletes competing in homemade shoes

Can we confirm whether Allyson Felix is the first athlete or specifically the first woman in track and field history to win Olympic medals in her own spikes?

There are some uncertainties:

• Early male athletes (late 1800s–early 1900s) sometimes raced in handmade leather shoes/spikes before modern brands (e.g. Adidas, 1920s) standardized footwear.
• Women’s Olympic track participation began in 1928, by which time commercial brands were already established, so women likely had less need for homemade or handmade spikes.

(Early Ancient Olympic athletes competed barefoot)

Questions:

• Did any male track athletes in the late 1800s–early 1900s make and compete (or win) in their own shoes?
• When women’s track and field events began in 1928, did any female athletes make and compete (or win) in their own shoes?

Bifty (talk) 22:23, 16 August 2025 (UTC)