What Carbon Plates Actually Do (And Why Nobody Is Explaining It Right) | Gelindo Bordin of Diadora

Описание: Gelindo Bordin is the only Olympic marathon champion to also win the Boston Marathon, and 35 years later people still recognize him on the street. Today he's the director at Diadora, where he's applying everything he learned as an elite athlete to building running shoes that prioritize protection alongside performance.

In this episode, Gelindo shares what it was like competing at the highest level in the eighties and nineties, why he believes the industry has swung too far toward carbon plates and speed at the expense of injury prevention, and how Diadora uses five different compounds to treat every consumer like a top runner.

We talk about the difference between being a sponsored athlete then versus now, why consistency matters more than any shoe technology, what family ownership allows a brand to do that investor-backed companies can't, and why he thinks the best consumer feedback happens when you get on your knees and put shoes on people's feet. If you care about where the running industry is headed, how brands actually make product decisions, or what it takes to build something durable in business and sport, this is a great one.

00:00 Why athletes don't understand the tech in their own shoes
02:12 Meet Gelindo Bordin — Olympic and Boston Marathon champion
05:17 How a rainy soccer practice led to running
08:30 Being a sponsored athlete in the 80s vs. today
11:05 Why his Olympic win is remembered 35 years later but recent gold medals fade fast
12:45 The gift athletes have and how to invest it beyond sport
15:30 Starting over in business with humility after being an Olympic champion
17:13 Translating elite experience to the everyday consumer
18:00 Building shoes for two-hour and five-hour marathoners
20:24 Why Diadora uses five different compounds
22:50 Two running booms: the 80s/90s and post-pandemic
24:30 The industry's overcorrection toward carbon plates and speed
27:00 How carbon plates actually work and why reviewers get it wrong
29:00 Consistency in training, product development, and brand building
31:31 The parallel between marathon patience and business patience
34:21 How Diadora thinks about brand marketing and storytelling
35:06 Why they only sell through running specialty retail
37:28 Challenges and opportunities of being an Italian brand in the US
40:00 Why trail isn't Diadora's focus right now
42:45 Staying focused when everyone else is expanding
46:00 Family ownership vs. investor pressure
50:00 Signal vs. noise — learning from the consumer on the ground
52:13 What scares him about shoe reviewers and influencers
56:13 Predictions for LA 2028
58:31 Parting message: protect your training, not just your race

🎧 Full episode: https://podlink.com/1820300459
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Long Run Labs is a weekly series exploring the intersection of endurance and entrepreneurship from the team that brings you For The Long Run Podcast. From brand builders to movement makers, we spotlight the runners driving change in the outdoor and endurance space.

These are the untold stories behind the tools, companies, and communities that shape the industry, told with curiosity, honesty, and heart. Hosted by Jon Levitt.

New episodes drop every Tuesday.