Maybe there was a time when winning at the Olympics was simpler. The best man or woman climbed the podium, and the medallists didn't have to thank a team of scientists for helping them triumph.
Now, said Canadian speed skater Mathieu Giroux, you can see parallels between his sport and Formula One auto racing, never mind the considerable gap in horsepower.
€Back in the day, Olympics were more about amateur sport and everyone on the same level of equipment and everything, and I felt like the strongest was winning,€ said Giroux, 27-year-old speed skater from Montreal who helped win gold for Canada in the team pursuit in Vancouver four years ago.
€Now it may be a little less true. Technology can give you quite a big edge. If you have a bit more money, you can find better stuff. In Formula One, there's teams that have a lot more money and they win. It goes a bit like that now in the Olympics.€
Consider the intellectual heft that went into creating the skin suit that'll be worn by the U.S. long-track speed skaters in Sochi. The suit, dubbed the Mach 39, was brainstormed in a top-secret lab in Baltimore, access to which is controlled by a vascular scanner that recognizes the vein pattern on the back of the hands of a select few employees.
The company that runs the lab, apparel brand Under Armour, partnered on the project with Lockheed Martin, the aerospace giant better known for brainstorming fighter jets. The collaborators used two years of wind-tunnel testing and motion-capture modelling, and textile trial and error to produce a suit that, in the words of Kevin Haley, Under Armour's vice president of innovation, will make a €measurable difference€ in the results.
€You feel fast €" the way (the suit) moves, the way it feels, the way it sounds,€ U.S. Olympian Patrick Meek has said of the Mach 39. €The way it smells is fast.€
Olympic Athletes Take High-Tech Gear For A Test Drive At The 2014 Winter Games
You might assume Olympic competitors rely solely on superhuman physical prowess to achieve their remarkable feats€"and you're not entirely wrong. It takes a stupidly gifted athlete to make gliding around an icy track at 40 mph look easy. But not even Olympians are above a little technological help. Over the years, the winter games have given us some amazing innovations€"optimized textiles, next-level equipment, and ultra-smart training gear€"and Sochi is no different. Below, a guide to what some medal hopefuls will be using (if not wearing) to make themselves better, faster, and stronger at the games.
Omega Bobsled Timer
You probably think of Omega as just a luxury timepiece company, but this year at Sochi, the high-end Swiss watchmaker is applying its flawless timing technology to capture real-time data during bobsled races. The OMEGA measurement unit, which consists of speed, 3D acceleration, and 3D gyro-sensors, will be mounted on the front of each bobsled in order to track speed and velocity angles. All of that precious data is sent instantaneously to athletes and coaches, who can use it to optimize training programs and runs.
Nike LunarENDOR Quickstrike Boot
Snowboarders are the flashy badasses of the winter games. For high-tech swagger, they'll be wearing this Quickstrike boot from Nike. The first thing you'll notice is the glowing swoosh, which is made up of 30 LEDs powered by an embedded lithium ion battery. But the real tech is underneath. Nike padded the boot with its Lunarlon foam, a cushioning layer that was developed by observing astronauts bounding on the moon. This provides athletes with a softer, more responsive ride while keeping their legs and hips properly aligned. There's also a 3D molded upper and Flywire inner lacing system, which means no unsupportive wiggle room.
Under Armor and Lockheed Martin Speed Skating Uniforms
Under Armor partnered up with Lockheed Martin, the tech company that dominates the defense, security, and aerospace market, to create the world's fastest suit for the U.S. speed skating team. Details are hard to come by on the super-secretive design process, but we do know that the new suits will use five different fabrics to optimize speed. The Washington Post reports that the air vent on the spine releases heat, while a slick textile on the inner thigh reduces friction as the skater crosses his legs while turning.
Columbia Omni-Heat Thermal Technology
Ever been to a marathon where runners get a shiny metallic blanket after finishing the race? Those silvery sheets are actually made from insulation used to keep astronauts warm in space, which Columbia has now incorporated into a shiny material found on the inside of athletes' jackets and base layers. Designers have turned the reflective aluminum material into tiny dots that help retain up to 20 percent more heat while still allowing moisture to escape.
Motion Capture Sensors
Professional ice skaters don't learn how to rotate their bodies 3.5 times in mid air while wearing blades€"and do it gracefully€"without some serious training. That training just got a lot more serious now that Jim Richards, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Delaware, has developed on-body sensors that can render a figure skater's movements into 3D models, giving coaches rare insight into how an athlete's body moves and allowing them to optimize that movement. This means skaters can now learn advanced jumps faster and without as many impacts, which ultimately means less stress on their bodies.
Swiftwick Cut-Resistant Socks
Hockey players are known for two things: sheer athletic force and uncontrollable tempers. Add to this the fact that they're essentially wearing a pair of very sharp knives on their feet, and what could go wrong? Players get dinged up, which is why some added protection is never a bad idea. Swiftwick, an apparel company based in Tennessee, created a knee-high sock that's essentially a textile-based suit of armor. Developed with the NHL for more than three years, Swiftwick's socks are made with a cut-resistant fiber-optic core that's strong enough to be used in a bullet-proof vest, but also wicks away sweat. U.S. and Lithuanian hockey teams will be shielding their feet and ankles with these socks come Sochi.
Columbia Adjustable Knee Patches
Good tech doesn't necessarily mean high tech. In some cases, a well-designed tweak to a high-functioning uniform can make all the difference. Freestyle skiers are scored partially on how tightly locked their knees stay together, so a one-size-fits-all ski suit that could obscure a judge's view doesn't work. That's why Columbia developed an adjustable knee patch that skiers and coaches can apply themselves. Athletes can find the most effective placement, and when coupled with Columbia's Snow Camo, mogul skiers should be able to draw attention to the right area.
Columbia Lightning Rail Zipper
Zippers have always been inherently unsexy pieces of technology, but now the Performance and Innovation Team at Columbia sportswear has developed a laser-cut zipper that's bonded directly to fabric, resulting in less bulk, weight, and water leakage for skiers careening down a mountainside. Best of all? Give it a couple of years and they'll be on your jacket, too.
Now, said Canadian speed skater Mathieu Giroux, you can see parallels between his sport and Formula One auto racing, never mind the considerable gap in horsepower.
€Back in the day, Olympics were more about amateur sport and everyone on the same level of equipment and everything, and I felt like the strongest was winning,€ said Giroux, 27-year-old speed skater from Montreal who helped win gold for Canada in the team pursuit in Vancouver four years ago.
€Now it may be a little less true. Technology can give you quite a big edge. If you have a bit more money, you can find better stuff. In Formula One, there's teams that have a lot more money and they win. It goes a bit like that now in the Olympics.€
Consider the intellectual heft that went into creating the skin suit that'll be worn by the U.S. long-track speed skaters in Sochi. The suit, dubbed the Mach 39, was brainstormed in a top-secret lab in Baltimore, access to which is controlled by a vascular scanner that recognizes the vein pattern on the back of the hands of a select few employees.
The company that runs the lab, apparel brand Under Armour, partnered on the project with Lockheed Martin, the aerospace giant better known for brainstorming fighter jets. The collaborators used two years of wind-tunnel testing and motion-capture modelling, and textile trial and error to produce a suit that, in the words of Kevin Haley, Under Armour's vice president of innovation, will make a €measurable difference€ in the results.
€You feel fast €" the way (the suit) moves, the way it feels, the way it sounds,€ U.S. Olympian Patrick Meek has said of the Mach 39. €The way it smells is fast.€
Olympic Athletes Take High-Tech Gear For A Test Drive At The 2014 Winter Games
You might assume Olympic competitors rely solely on superhuman physical prowess to achieve their remarkable feats€"and you're not entirely wrong. It takes a stupidly gifted athlete to make gliding around an icy track at 40 mph look easy. But not even Olympians are above a little technological help. Over the years, the winter games have given us some amazing innovations€"optimized textiles, next-level equipment, and ultra-smart training gear€"and Sochi is no different. Below, a guide to what some medal hopefuls will be using (if not wearing) to make themselves better, faster, and stronger at the games.
Omega Bobsled Timer
You probably think of Omega as just a luxury timepiece company, but this year at Sochi, the high-end Swiss watchmaker is applying its flawless timing technology to capture real-time data during bobsled races. The OMEGA measurement unit, which consists of speed, 3D acceleration, and 3D gyro-sensors, will be mounted on the front of each bobsled in order to track speed and velocity angles. All of that precious data is sent instantaneously to athletes and coaches, who can use it to optimize training programs and runs.
Nike LunarENDOR Quickstrike Boot
Snowboarders are the flashy badasses of the winter games. For high-tech swagger, they'll be wearing this Quickstrike boot from Nike. The first thing you'll notice is the glowing swoosh, which is made up of 30 LEDs powered by an embedded lithium ion battery. But the real tech is underneath. Nike padded the boot with its Lunarlon foam, a cushioning layer that was developed by observing astronauts bounding on the moon. This provides athletes with a softer, more responsive ride while keeping their legs and hips properly aligned. There's also a 3D molded upper and Flywire inner lacing system, which means no unsupportive wiggle room.
Under Armor and Lockheed Martin Speed Skating Uniforms
Under Armor partnered up with Lockheed Martin, the tech company that dominates the defense, security, and aerospace market, to create the world's fastest suit for the U.S. speed skating team. Details are hard to come by on the super-secretive design process, but we do know that the new suits will use five different fabrics to optimize speed. The Washington Post reports that the air vent on the spine releases heat, while a slick textile on the inner thigh reduces friction as the skater crosses his legs while turning.
Columbia Omni-Heat Thermal Technology
Ever been to a marathon where runners get a shiny metallic blanket after finishing the race? Those silvery sheets are actually made from insulation used to keep astronauts warm in space, which Columbia has now incorporated into a shiny material found on the inside of athletes' jackets and base layers. Designers have turned the reflective aluminum material into tiny dots that help retain up to 20 percent more heat while still allowing moisture to escape.
Motion Capture Sensors
Professional ice skaters don't learn how to rotate their bodies 3.5 times in mid air while wearing blades€"and do it gracefully€"without some serious training. That training just got a lot more serious now that Jim Richards, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Delaware, has developed on-body sensors that can render a figure skater's movements into 3D models, giving coaches rare insight into how an athlete's body moves and allowing them to optimize that movement. This means skaters can now learn advanced jumps faster and without as many impacts, which ultimately means less stress on their bodies.
Swiftwick Cut-Resistant Socks
Hockey players are known for two things: sheer athletic force and uncontrollable tempers. Add to this the fact that they're essentially wearing a pair of very sharp knives on their feet, and what could go wrong? Players get dinged up, which is why some added protection is never a bad idea. Swiftwick, an apparel company based in Tennessee, created a knee-high sock that's essentially a textile-based suit of armor. Developed with the NHL for more than three years, Swiftwick's socks are made with a cut-resistant fiber-optic core that's strong enough to be used in a bullet-proof vest, but also wicks away sweat. U.S. and Lithuanian hockey teams will be shielding their feet and ankles with these socks come Sochi.
Columbia Adjustable Knee Patches
Good tech doesn't necessarily mean high tech. In some cases, a well-designed tweak to a high-functioning uniform can make all the difference. Freestyle skiers are scored partially on how tightly locked their knees stay together, so a one-size-fits-all ski suit that could obscure a judge's view doesn't work. That's why Columbia developed an adjustable knee patch that skiers and coaches can apply themselves. Athletes can find the most effective placement, and when coupled with Columbia's Snow Camo, mogul skiers should be able to draw attention to the right area.
Columbia Lightning Rail Zipper
Zippers have always been inherently unsexy pieces of technology, but now the Performance and Innovation Team at Columbia sportswear has developed a laser-cut zipper that's bonded directly to fabric, resulting in less bulk, weight, and water leakage for skiers careening down a mountainside. Best of all? Give it a couple of years and they'll be on your jacket, too.
SHARE
