Australian researchers said Thursday they had found no scientific proof that hi-tech running shoes improve athletic performance or limit injury.

    Newcastle University physiologist Craig Richards said the myth of the modern exploded into a running shoe had vast industry since the 1970s but a study of sports medicine literature since 1950 found there was no scientific proof they worked.

    "A collective psyche has developed around these shoes," Richards, the lead researcher, said. "It's so ingrained now that to even suggest that there's no evidence that they work gets a very rude reaction from people."

    "But we searched all the sports medicine literature we could find looking for a carefully controlled trial measuring whether or not modern hi-tech running shoes decrease injury rates, improve performance or decrease the risk of osteoarthritis later in life. We basically couldn't find anything," he said.

    While the shoes were subject to extensive biomechanical testing, Richards said his study - published in the current edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine - showed they had never been examined in a real-world environment.

    "You can't determine whether or not a shoe changes your injury rates in a laboratory," he said.

    The shoes typically feature elevated cushioned heels intended to absorb impact, protect the Achilles tendon and stop the foot from rolling, but Richards said the claims had never been put to the street test.

    Sports medicine, not advertising, that was to blame for the myth, he said. Richards said his team would launch a study on the benefits, if any, of such shoes later this year.

    澳大利亞研究人員于上周四稱，他們并未發現有關高科技跑鞋能提高運動成績或減少受傷的科學依據。

    紐卡斯爾大學的生理學家克雷格•理查茲稱，自上世紀70年代以來，現代跑鞋的神話已催生出一個龐大的產業，但一項對1950年之后的運動醫學文獻的研究發現，跑鞋具有神奇功效一說并沒有科學依據。

    首席研究員理查茲說：“人們對跑鞋已經形成了一種集體心理效應，而且這種觀念根深蒂固，甚至在我們稱沒有證據表明跑鞋有神奇功效時都會招致人們十分猛烈的抨擊。”

    他說：“但我們查閱了所有可以找到的運動醫學文獻,尋找一種嚴格控制的試驗，希望能估量現代高科技跑鞋是否可以降低受傷幾率，提高運動成績或降低日后患骨關節炎風險，但基本一無所獲。”

    理查茲稱，盡管跑鞋經過了廣泛的生物醫學的檢驗，但他們的這項研究表明，跑鞋的功效從未在現實環境中得以驗證。該研究成果在最新一期《英國體育醫學雜志》上發表。

    他說：“你不能在實驗室里斷定跑鞋能否降低受傷幾率。”

    現代跑鞋的典型特征是鞋跟處墊厚，以增加緩沖，保護跟腱，防止腳部晃動。但理查茲稱這些功效從未在跑道上驗證過。

    理查茲稱，“跑鞋神話”應歸咎于運動醫學，而非廣告。他稱他的研究小組將于今年晚些時候開展一項針對跑鞋功效的研究。