ANTA racing running shoes that incorporate Shincell supercritical physical foam materials lead the "minority" champion with sports technology- Suzhou Shincell New Material Co., Ltd.

On the morning of November 26, 2023, Kenyan runner Philemon Kiptu Kipchumba (hereinafter referred to as "Kipchumba") won the 2023 Shanghai Marathon (hereinafter referred to as "Kipchumba") in a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 35 seconds. (referred to as "Shangma") men's championship, not only broke the record that had been silent for 8 years, but also created the best finishing result for the men's marathon in China.

According to public data, the number of first-time pre-registrations for this year's marathon exceeded 170,000, a record high; the completion rate reached 97.18%, of which 8,561 people ran for 4 hours, accounting for 42.8% of the total marathon group, which was higher than the previous The number of "Breaking Four" runners this year exceeded 1,000; among the 38,000 final participants, foreign runners accounted for 12%. It can be seen that this horse racing has a high value in terms of the number of participants and the quality of runners.

It is reported that Kipchumba has won three marathons in succession this year, including the Hong Kong Marathon, Xiamen Marathon and this time. His outstanding results have made him a high-profile star runner. If asked about the secret of his success, in addition to his own talent and extraordinary efforts, choosing a suitable pair of running shoes as auxiliary equipment is also extremely critical. In these three marathons, Kipchumba’s feet The three pairs of racing running shoes I wear are all from the well-known national sports brand-Anta.

Anta: The heroic dream of a "minority"

As we all know, marathon is a high-intensity extreme sport that places extremely high demands on runners’ cardiopulmonary function, muscle endurance, and joint health. Currently, among marathon finishers, only 30% of men and 10% of women can become "fourth-breaking" runners. Although there are many marathon participants, very few can persist in running the entire distance. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "minority" sports spirit.

Just like marathon sports that require perseverance and test endurance, Anta's commercial layout of its running shoes has also gone through a very long process, which is quite a bit of accumulation.

Founded in Jinjiang in 1991, Anta mainly took overseas orders and processed foreign brands in its early days. However, in the view of the brand founder, only doing OEM processing is not a long-term solution. It is more important to enhance brand value and have its own brand characteristics. is important.

In 1999, after Anta completed its initial capital accumulation, it began large-scale brand marketing. It first hired table tennis player Kong Linghui as its spokesperson, and then placed a large number of advertisements on CCTV. After 2009, Anta acquired well-known brands such as FILA, Salomon, and Arc'teryx, trying to join the ranks of mid-to-high-end sports brands through a multi-brand strategy.

Nowadays, Anta, which is surrounded by many high-end brands, has not only gradually realized the transition to high-end brand, but also occupied an increasing market share. Relevant data shows that from 2019 to 2022, Anta's market share in China's sports shoes and apparel industry increased from 14.8% to 19.55%, surpassing Adidas and Nike one after another, becoming the veritable number one in the Chinese market. According to the financial report released in the first half of 2023, Anta has stabilized its number one position with revenue of 29.645 billion yuan.

While the market share of traditional giants in the field of sports shoes and apparel is gradually being eroded by emerging brands in market segments, and their right to speak is becoming increasingly weaker, Anta has rapidly expanded its brand matrix and enhanced its brand value. After 32 years, Finally became that "minority" champion.

Shoe material manufacturing plus foaming technology, the background of the high-end story is innovation?

For the manufacturing industry, technological innovation has always been the primary productive force. If Anta wants to tell its high-end story well, it is obviously not enough to just rely on the "buy, buy, buy" approach. In the field of shoe manufacturing, midsole technology plays a key role in allowing runners to cushion impacts, reduce friction, support arches and improve comfort during running, as well as prevent foot fatigue and injuries.

As an important part of sports shoes, the competition around midsole technology among major well-known sports brands has been fierce in recent years. For example, Nike's ZOOM X uses PEBAX material foamed by supercritical fluid sheets; Adidas's Boost and Lightstrike, both Both belong to supercritical TPU foaming; Li Ning’s “䨻” technology, which is derived from PEBAX supercritical foaming, etc., are all focusing on midsole technology and materials.

On September 27, 2021, at the innovative technology conference with the theme of "Motion Creates the Future" and focusing on global sports shoe midsole technology, Ant released for the first time the midsole technology-"Nitrogen" which took three years to develop. science and technology.

The so-called "nitrogen" technology refers to injecting nitrogen into the material in a supercritical state and foaming it to achieve a low density of the material. This technology uses a PEBA foam midsole to create an extremely light running feel, with a density of only 0.09 g/cm³; the first nylon elastomer embryo foaming process, in a supercritical state, through nitrogen physical foaming to impart disruptive elasticity to the midsole of the shoe, bringing high rebound cushioning function and an energy return rate of 86.8%; the anti-deformation function of the midsole has been further upgraded to make the sole more stable and the durability increased by 30%.

Since then, Anta has mainly applied "Nitrogen" technology to a series of running shoes in its high-end production line. For example, it launched the "King of All Palms" C10 PRO for the marathon competition environment. Thanks to the lightweight of "Nitrogen" technology, a single shoe The size 41 shoes are as light as 180g, allowing athletes to maintain the best competitive condition during the second half of the marathon.

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Application: Material technology injects “soul” into championship running shoes

In the field of racing running shoes, Anta has been silent for a long time. The many racing running shoes previously released failed to make much splash in the market. But this year, Anta suddenly released a very complete matrix of running shoes. Among them, the new minority C marathon racing family is the most eye-catching, including C202 5th generation GT, C202 5th generation GT PRO and C10 PRO. Carbon plate running shoes provide the strongest auxiliary equipment for 300 elite runners, 230 professional athletes and top marathon runners.

As Anta "occupied the podium for the 53rd time" this year, it proved itself with a "late strike" attitude. Among them, Kipchumba mentioned above wore ANTA's C202 5th generation GT PRO and won the championship in the horse race.

The midsole materials of C10 PRO, C202 5th Generation GT and C202 5th Generation GT PRO are all produced through cooperation between Anta and Suzhou Shincell New Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shincell"). The midsole technology of both running shoes uses upper and lower dual-density midsole materials. The upper layer uses NITROEDGE PRO, which is based on plate foaming, has a lower density and has an energy return rate of 89%, bringing lightweight rebound; the lower layer uses NITROEDGE nitrogen. Technology, relying on 84% energy return rate to ensure stable implementation.

It is understood that Shincell is a company that focuses on the research and development of sustainable high-performance lightweight new materials and green manufacturing. It is not only one of the leading supercritical foaming companies in China, but also the first in the world to achieve non-cross-linked physical microstructure of thermoplastic materials. Foaming company. Not only that, Shincell has also designed and built a supercritical fluid microporous foaming production line with independent intellectual property rights. The planned annual production capacity of polymer microporous foam materials reaches 5,000 tons. According to the "2022-2026 China Supercritical Foaming Technology Feasibility Research Report" released by the New Sijie Industrial Research Center, Shincell is currently one of the outstanding suppliers of supercritical foaming materials and equipment in my country.

In the field of shoe materials, Shincell's materials have cooperated with many well-known sports shoe brands, including but not limited to Peak's P-SOON, Duowei RC2 PRO, etc.

At the 2023 Valencia, which just ended last week, the third fastest track in the world after Berlin and Chicago, 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele finished the race in 2 hours, 04 minutes and 19 seconds, once again setting a new record for those over 40 years old. World records for age groups. The Anta C10 PRO he wore came from Shincell’s midsole material.

Tamirat Tola, the men's champion of the 2023 New York Marathon, broke the 12-year-old track record with a time of 2 hours, 04 minutes and 58 seconds. He was wearing the same Adidas as Tigist Assefa and Sheila Chepkiru, the women's champion and runner-up of the 2023 Berlin Marathon. ADIZERO ADIOS PRO EVO 1 running shoes, and the third runner-up Tadese Takel wore Anta C202 5th generation GT PRO, the midsole materials are all from the competition.

Relevant introductions show that this Adidas running shoe weighs only 138g. It uses non-compression molded LIGHTSTRIKE PRO foam made with cutting-edge technology, which is at least 40% lighter than other racing running shoes of the Adidas brand.

Since the beginning of this year, domestic road running events represented by marathons have rapidly picked up. As the popularity of marathons rises, those champion runners who have set new records in the competition have become the focus of much attention. With the blessing of modern technology, it is difficult not to admit that a pair of lightweight and more resilient running shoes will help marathon runners run faster.

In this regard, Dr. Allen from the School of Physical Education at Manchester Metropolitan University pointed out in an article in the British media Daily Telegraph titled "What makes running shoes super" that the biggest technological breakthrough in running shoes now is the midsole. Foam materials have become lighter, and most running shoes are also optimizing midsole materials to bring more energy return to running shoes.

Currently, various sports brands have entered the field of "rolling" midsole materials in the field of shoe material manufacturing, and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. In the future, I believe that it is only a matter of time, both from the perspective of brands and users, to develop racing running shoes that are more energy-saving, more resilient, and cost-effective to meet the needs of the end application market.