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Be it for performance or safety, wearable technology has brought competitive sports to new heights. However some argue that the addition of these gadgets is comparable to the unfair advantage created by doping.
Irrespective of the ethical debate wearable technology continues to gain popularity (and consequently notoriety). Here are some of the best and most advanced from recent years.
Speedo LZR Racer ‘shark suit’
So good it was banned. Jointly developed by Mectex and the Australian Institute of Sport for Speedo, supported by NASA’s fluid analysis software, the LZR Racer swimming suit was the most technologically advanced swim-apparel of its time.
The polyurethane and elastane-nylon suits gained notoriety in 2008 when Olympic mega-fish Michael Phelps wore one for the Summer games, and it was a crucial factor in swimmers breaking 93 world records overall. Three of those records fell within the first week of its release.
To put the LZR’s success into perspective the following statistics emerged from the Beijing Olympics – 94 per cent of all races were won by a swimmer wearing the suit. Moreover, a staggering 23 of the 25 world records broken and 33 of the 36 medals were won by LZR Racer-clad athletes.
The suits were deemed so effective by FINA, the organisational body that regulates competitive swimming, that they were seen as comparable to ‘technology doping’ and were accordingly banned.
The suits are not without their downsides though, they are reportedly pretty uncomfortable and take 20 minutes to put on – with assistance. Still, they seem to be worth it.
Ossur Flex-Foot Cheetah – ‘Blade Runner’
Up until February, 2014 Oscar Pistorius was a household name for all the right reasons. A disabled athlete so talented and hardworking that he was capable of competing with able-bodies. Pistorius won one race and took home silver medals in another four in official able-bodied races from 2011 to ’12. However, it wasn’t simply dedication that enable OP to compete above and beyond societal expectation.
Fitted to Pistorius’s legs below the knee was the Felex-Foot Cheetah (nicknamed ‘Blade Runner’ because of its shape), a carbon-fibre prosthetic developed by medical engineer Van Phillips. Up until this period prosthetic technology had been insufficient in allowing for proficient movement. Phillips’ designs acted as a spring that stored kinetic energy allowing for running and jumping.
Consequently, the landscape of sports prosthetics changed forever and the Flex-Foot Cheetah caused myriad records to fall.
The Avalanche Airbag
Those not familiar with skiing might be unaware of the risky situations that professional skiers put themselves in on a daily basis. The progression of the glamourised sport has seen an increased movement from on-piste to back country terrain. With this has seen increased exposure to the elements and, most dangerously, avalanches. To counter this increased risk German company ABS has developed something pretty phenomenal.
The ABS Avalanche Airbag works due to granular convection (or inverse segregation, pseudonymously referred to as the ‘Brazilian nut effect’). Simply, granular convection pertains to the phenomena whereby in a collection of various sized objects the larger ones will rise when the group is shaken or vibrated, with the smaller objects falling to the bottom. In practice this theory explains why larger nuts always rise to the top in jars or cans of mixed nuts.
Using this same principle of inverse segregation the avalanche Airbag works by inflating two large balloons, increasing the surface area of the snow sports enthusiast causing them to rise to the top of the small, fast moving snow particles. Simple, brilliant physics in motion.
GPS receivers
Unlike the above GPS technology is hardly new. However, while the armed services have been triangulating location for decades the device has only recently switched codes. Even still, its potential is not exploited by many outside of the football codes. The technology has superseded the former method of player tracking ‘time motion’ whereby a singular camera would follow an individual player for a match.
Simply, players tagged with GPS receivers go about their business while a team of statisticians and data wranglers analysis every movement undertaken and metre run. The information gathered is used to increase performance and accuracy, as well as tailor practice regimens to player’s specific needs.
It further allows for quantification of movement data over time as well as speed in KPH and forces exerted upon players. During game day it allows for coaches to identify players outperforming their peers.
While these are a few of the most progressive technological innovations that athletes are presently wearing, with the exponential expansion of sports tech the skys the limit for what is possible in this field… unless regulatory bodies clarify the debate between what is performance enhancing and what isnt.
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