The aim of this work was to quantify the effect of adding carbon fiber plates in the midsole of spike shoes (i.e., "super spikes") on 40-m sprint performance. Eight female national level athletes completed four 40-m sprints using two different types of footwear (i.e., traditional spikes and "super spikes"). The main results showed an improvement of 0.6% in performance when the athletes wore "super spikes" (i.e., 0.031 s in 0-40 m), mainly in the flying phase (i.e., 0.026 s in the 20-40 m), which could be due to an increase in leg and vertical stiffness (i.e., greater in the "super spikes") and a reduction in the ground contact time (i.e., less time with "super spikes"). Also, this improvement seems to be related to the sprinter`s performance level. In conclusion, wearing "super spikes" has a positive effect on 40-m sprint performance compared to conventional spikes.
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