High-Tech Edge Sharpens Olympic Games

July 24, 2012

Australia's Steven Hooker, seen here at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2009, used a pole made from carbon fibers to capture the gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

At the very first Olympic Games, in 1896, an American won a gold medal in the pole vault event after jumping 3.30 meters using a wooden pole.

Four years ago in Beijing, an Australian won gold in the same event with a 5.96-meter jump. The pole he used was lighter and stronger and made from carbon fibers.

When the 2012 Olympic games begin later this month in London, athletes will not only be better-trained than ever before, but also better-equipped.

“What we have seen really is nothing short of a revolution, particularly in the use of advanced materials, integrated with engineering design,” says Michael Caine, a professor of sports technology at Loughborough University in England.

Breaking records

He says athletes with lighter and stronger bats, rackets and golf clubs can hit balls further, harder or with more spin. Often these engineering innovations can be tracked by the records in the sport.

Until the Beijing Games in 2008, there was an average of 22 record-breaking performances during each Olympiad. At the Beijing Games, 108 new records were set. Caine says in swimming, 94 percent of the races were won by athletes wearing full-body swimsuits made with engineered materials.