Mizuno

Mizuno have been making strides in the sporting world for over a century, since two brothers began selling western goods - including baseballs - in Osaka, Japan, just as sport began to gain popularity in the country ten years after the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

Now supplying Olympic winners and junior athletes alike with running shoes and long-distance spikes, Mizuno’s meticulous research into biomechanics and men’s and women’s running gaits has led to a new generation of gender-specific athletic footwear.

Research carried out by Mizuno has indicated that there is a significant difference between the biomechanics of men's and women's running gaits.

Their tests revealed that the angle, velocity and speed of pronation is higher in women than in men. The foot strike is also slower in men than in women, and the angle of the foot strike is more severe in women than in men.

This detailed research has led Mizuno to design a new generation of running shoe, aimed specifically at accommodating these differences in male and female running styles.