In parallel with the Winter Olympics, Nike has launched its first sprinting spikes designed exclusively for winter athletes. In much the same way as the Zoom Super Fly sprinting spike was designed in conjunction with 100-metres world record-holder Maurice Greene, the new footwear is being put through its paces by athletes competing in Salt Lake City.

While studying the footwear commonly used by bobsleigh and skeleton athletes Nike’s design team found that the majority of athletes were using footwear designed for summer track and field athletes, not for athletes on ice. The track and field models met some of their needs, but not all. Tobie Hatfield, senior advanced engineer for Nike Footwear, led the development team for the shoes. He has also developed Michael Johnson's famous Golden Spikes and Marion Jones' footwear.

Hatfield said that certain improvements were obvious: "Once I saw what they were using I immediately knew that we could build a better spike. Aside for simply keeping the athlete's feet warm and dry, there were obvious improvements to be made in aerodynamics and weight. I would never put Marion Jones out on the track in footwear designed for another sport. My team feels the same about skeleton and bobsled athletes."

The results are the Zoom Slide and the Zoom Bob Sprint. The first is much like that of the Greene's Zoom Super Fly, with some minor changes to increase the grip on the ice. However, added to the toe area of the shoe is a friction-reducing thermal plastic urethane cap to protect the shoe and toes while allowing the footwear to bounce off the ice should contact occur.

The biggest difference in the plate for the Zoom Bob Sprint plate is weight. By using aluminium instead of the standard and much heavier steel, weight in the shoe is greatly reduced without sacrificing traction and durability.