Track spikes Emil Zatopek, a distance runner from Czech Republic, wore them during the 1952 Olympics in Helesinki. The front of the sole features a rigid or semi-rigid spike plate containing between 3 and 9 threaded holes called spike wells. Spikes can be screwed into each well using a spike wrench. Recently, some individuals have attempted to add a "through hole" at the bottom of the spike to make them easier to tighten, remove, and install. Some shoes have permanent or "fixed" spikes which are not meant to be removed. Spikes may break during competition. Track shoes are exceptionally light, some shoes
Emil Ganz Emil Ganz Emil Ganz (August 18, 1838 – August 6, 1922) was a businessman and two-time mayor of Phoenix, Arizona. Ganz was born on August 18, 1838 in the German town of Walldorf, Thuringia in the then Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, to Meyer and Hannah Ganz. He was educated in his home country before being apprenticed to a tailor at age 14. Ganz immigrated to the United States in 1858, working as a journeyman tailor in New York City and Philadelphia before settling in Cedartown, Georgia. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Ganz enlisted in the Confederate States Army.