The governing body announced an immediate "indefinite moratorium" on any shoe with a sole thicker than 40 millimetres, or 30mm for the sole on shoes with spikes.
Also subject to the moratorium will be shoes with more than one "rigid embedded plate or blade that runs either the full length or only part of the length of the shoe".
Nike's Alphafly bespoke shoe, which Kipchoge wore when setting his marathon record in Vienna last October, is widely reported to feature three carbon fibre plates.
World Athletics did not mention the Nike shoes in its news release on Friday, or say whether Kipchoge's world record would remain in the record books, and did not reply to requests from Omnisport for comment.
All manufacturers' prototype shoes are to be blocked from use, World Athletics said, and from April 30, athletes will only be permitted to compete in footwear that has been available for the public to buy for four months.
Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, said the new rules would provide "certainty to athletes and manufacturers" ahead of this year's Tokyo Olympics.
The new regulations will allow for modification of shoes but only for cosmetic or medical reasons.
As well as Kipchoge's historic achievement in 2019, which was not an officially ratified record, his fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei set a world record for the women's marathon also in Nike shoes.
It is not known whether the Nike Vaporfly shoes that Kosgei wore would be allowed under the specifications provided by World Athletics, or whether the shoes were modified.
According to The Times, Nike plans to commercially release an Alphafly shoe that will meet the new guidelines.
World Athletics said independent research had raised "concerns that the integrity of the sport might be threatened by the recent developments in shoe technology".
Coe said "It is not our job to regulate the entire sports shoe market but it is our duty to preserve the integrity of elite competition by ensuring that the shoes worn by elite athletes in competition do not offer any unfair assistance or advantage.
"As we enter the Olympic year, we don't believe we can rule out shoes that have been generally available for a considerable period of time, but we can draw a line by prohibiting the use of shoes that go further than what is currently on the market while we investigate further.
"I believe these new rules strike the right balance by offering certainty to athletes and manufacturers as they prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while addressing the concerns that have been raised about shoe technology."
Gayle showed he was not joking when he said he might try the sprints when he turned up at the Milo Western Relays last week but could only manage a fifth-place finish in a race won by former World Record holder over 100 metres, Asafa Powell.
The placing and the time, 6.87 seconds, is not a deterrent to Gayle, as he went into the race without any significant expectations.
“The time doesn’t really matter, I would have been satisfied with anything, even 7.0. I’m just here to get competition and experience in sprinting,” said Gayle in an interview with Jamaican Newspaper, The Gleaner.
According to Gayle, the idea that he could be making the Olympic team as both sprinter and long jumper is something that is the brainchild of his coach Paul Francis.
Francis is playing the situation by ear, saying sprinting is a part of jumping, so the process of racing would always have been included in his traditional training.
But he isn’t ruling out the possibility though.
“I can’t predict the future, we’re just trying our best to prepare him. And what will happen will happen at the Trials,” said Francis, coach at MVP Track Club and brother of the famous Stephen Francis.
Gayle though is already finding it difficult to straddle the two events, saying he hasn’t been able to work on certain technical issues like his start because he has had to focus on his jumping.
“Within technical sessions, I’m doing jumps while others are sprinting, so I don’t get the chance to work on it a lot,” he said.
Despite that, the World Champion believes his coach knows what he is capable of, even better than he does.
"If my coach says I can do it, I guess I can," he said.
According to reports, the vehicle Smith was driving, was rear ended, causing a spin that led to a second collision.
Though the car was badly damaged, it was reported that neither Smith, nor the two family members she was travelling with, were badly injured.
Smith, a standout at high school for Wolmer’s Girls in Jamaica’s biggest track and field championships, ran the third leg on Jamaica’s gold medal 4x100-metre team at the IAAF World Championships of Athletics in Doha, Qatar last year and finished sixth in the 100-metre final there.
Smith also recently graduated from Auburn University where she also had a more-than-creditable time on the track.
According to Ricketts coach and husband, Kerry Lee Ricketts, Shanieka will be working on more technical advances to her jumping, which will mean she competes less ahead of the Olympics.
That method is in stark contrast to the way Ricketts approached last year when she had what has been her most successful season to date.
Ricketts competed in 15 meets last year but her coach says she won’t need as many this time around.
“We won’t need many meets. I think she will probably open at either the Jamaica [International] Invitational if it has a triple jump or the Racers Grand Prix,” said coach Ricketts.
Ricketts pointed out that last year, there was a lot of testing to see what worked and what didn’t.
Now that the testing is over, Ricketts says there is no need to jump as much.
“This year, it’s not so much testing, it’s more of preparation, so we’re just basically going to prepare, prepare, prepare,” he said.
Shanieka Ricketts has been hunting for marks over 15 metres, getting closer with her personal best 14.93 metres. To get there, her coach believes she needs to get her final phase right, something that while there has been improvement, accounting for consistently bigger jumps, she still hasn’t nailed down.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of work in the last phase and we haven’t gotten it yet and we still have some work to do,” said the coach.
“It’s a learning process where, you know, you learn A and then you move on to B. You can’t learn A and B at the same time,” he said.
Thompson-Herah demanded the world sit up and take notice when she eclipsed another longstanding record held by the American at the Olympics a few weeks ago.
The Jamaican’s 10.61, winning time at the Games, run into a -0.6 wind erased Florence-Joyner’s 1988 Olympic record of 10.62. Just a few weeks later, however, and the athlete obliterated that mark, clocking 10.54 in another dominant showing against a quality field, this time in Eugene, Oregon at the Prefontaine Classic.
This time the wind speed recorded for the race was +0.9. Now, only Griffith-Joyner’s mark of 10.49 remains on the horizon and there is little doubt, for the first time in decades, it could be eclipsed.
"Going to Prefontaine there was no intention of breaking that record," Thompson-Herah said.
"It was a normal race day and I came out if with a PB after a tiring championship,” she added.
"10.5 is definitely in my reach but I wouldn't say it's a target right now.
"On a perfect day and perfect weather, if I get that, I would definitely challenge it.”
