Is it Possible to Sanitize Athletes’ Shoes?

A newly published study asks: Is is possible to sanitize athletes’ shoes? The study does not ask whether that matters.

The study is:

“Is it Possible to Sanitize Athletes’ Shoes?” Gabriele Messina, Sandra Burgassi, Carmela Russo, Emma Ceriale, Cecilia Quercioli and Cosetta Meniconi, Journal of Athletic Training, epub November 2014. The authors are at various institutions in Sienna, Italy.

Here are details from the study:

We invited 34 athletes to take part in the project: 1 athlete (3%) refused, giving no reason, and 33 (97%) accepted. Two of the 33 (6%) were subsequently excluded because of the irregularity of their weekly training. The final study population was 31 athletes (1 was in the under 16 years group old [3%], 15 were in the under 17 years group [48%], 11 were in the under 19 years groupol [35%], and 4 [13%] were male coaches). The final number of shoes examined was 62.

BONUS FACT (possibly non-sequitorial): Basketball players often look down on microbes on their shoes.