Cape shoe maker helps Olympians win gold

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CAPE CORAL, Fla.- David Simmons has been making custom shoes for nearly 30 years. But not just any shoes.

“[They] happen to be the lightest, strongest shoes in the world,” Simmons told WINK News.

Working out of his garage in Cape Coral, Simmons specializes in speed skating shoes, both in-line and ice. He’s made shoes for several past U.S. Olympic athletes like Chad Hedrick and Apollo Anton Ohno.

For the 2016 Rio games, he outfitted the entire Great Britain indoor cycling team, arguably the best in the world.

“They just called me out of the blue, they said, ‘well we want you to come over to England ’cause we have a couple of castings we want you to do… they won 13 gold medals with our shoes on.”

It takes Simmons about three days to make each pair of shoes. They’re made out of 100 percent carbon fiber and cost about $2,000.

“We custom make whatever somebody might want. They just kinda draw it out and we’ll design it and build it from there.”

Simmons says he plans to make more shoes for athletes participating in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

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