A similar evolution in shoe technology revolutionized rock climbing. The first purpose built climbing shoe entered the market around 1935, then around 1980 the first "sticky" climbing shoes appeared. Today we have shoes like the La Sportiva Solutions and the Scarpa Drago, both incredible climbing shoes that provide a massive advantage over shoes of the past.

Fortunately for climbing, this hasn't been much of a problem. Possibly due to the fact that everyone has access to the same shoes. Another possibility is that competition climbing has only become popular in something like the last decade, significantly after the shoe revolution started.

The analogy is imperfect as climbing isn't timed* but it should be interesting to watch this play out.

* Excluding speed climbing and maximum time limits.