This has always been the case in sports. I personally don't agree with setting some arbitrary limit on technology creating systems like Formula 1, which then becomes a race against regulations and who can most creatively push the rules & find workarounds.
The sport I know best is climbing, and the progression of gear over the past 50 years has enabled as you say STUPID HUGE gains in allowing the strongest athletes to push the envelope of what's possible. I can't imagine having to climb with old gear and shoes. Went from climbing in Converses with DIY pro to specialized rubber on shoes with similar ideas to Vaporfly in how they shape the foot and have flex or not based on the route need. We now wear different shoes for different styles of routes.
Now knee pads are becoming standard which has downgraded some famous routes and upped the highest end grades. Some climbers just log 'without' 'with' grades I guess you could do that with running, but no one is saying Adam Ondra didn't climb the hardest route in the world because he used a knee pad and similarly I don't think it's fair to take away Phelp's achievements.
Even going beyond 'solo' nature of climbing, the technology is the same in competitions. Gear pushes the sport and I think that's a good thing.
Because taken to the extreme it's eventually not "you" competing, it's your equipment.
Imagine some kind of glove that grips for you, or shoes with glue on the bottom. Or... there's no real limit here. Might as well just wear a hover belt and float to the top :)
At some point you have to say "this is enough tech". So the question is, what is that point?
To me that argument is a 'slippery slope' fallacy. We're not even close to that extreme. It's like saying let's get rid of mail in voting because there might be vast (non existent) fraud in the future.
And even if we go that far somehow I think the differentiation will come naturally. In climbing there is a totally separate thing called Aid Climbing where it's kind of like you say floating to the top haha. Pulling on ladders or whatever to completely eliminate strength and effort. It's not treated as remotely the same sport as free climbing.
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Why is this a disaster? genuinely asking.
This has always been the case in sports. I personally don't agree with setting some arbitrary limit on technology creating systems like Formula 1, which then becomes a race against regulations and who can most creatively push the rules & find workarounds.
The sport I know best is climbing, and the progression of gear over the past 50 years has enabled as you say STUPID HUGE gains in allowing the strongest athletes to push the envelope of what's possible. I can't imagine having to climb with old gear and shoes. Went from climbing in Converses with DIY pro to specialized rubber on shoes with similar ideas to Vaporfly in how they shape the foot and have flex or not based on the route need. We now wear different shoes for different styles of routes.
Now knee pads are becoming standard which has downgraded some famous routes and upped the highest end grades. Some climbers just log 'without' 'with' grades I guess you could do that with running, but no one is saying Adam Ondra didn't climb the hardest route in the world because he used a knee pad and similarly I don't think it's fair to take away Phelp's achievements.
Even going beyond 'solo' nature of climbing, the technology is the same in competitions. Gear pushes the sport and I think that's a good thing.
Because taken to the extreme it's eventually not "you" competing, it's your equipment.
Imagine some kind of glove that grips for you, or shoes with glue on the bottom. Or... there's no real limit here. Might as well just wear a hover belt and float to the top :)
At some point you have to say "this is enough tech". So the question is, what is that point?
To me that argument is a 'slippery slope' fallacy. We're not even close to that extreme. It's like saying let's get rid of mail in voting because there might be vast (non existent) fraud in the future.
And even if we go that far somehow I think the differentiation will come naturally. In climbing there is a totally separate thing called Aid Climbing where it's kind of like you say floating to the top haha. Pulling on ladders or whatever to completely eliminate strength and effort. It's not treated as remotely the same sport as free climbing.