Last night I watched a 9.63 100 meter race. I saw the top 4 break 9.9. How many years ago did they first break 10 seconds in the 100? Wonder what the 100 YARD time was? These are bittersweet numbers though. Gymnasts who won this olympics have been practicing since they were 7 or 8 years old or less and as they age the damage they did to their young bones will haunt them. Many olympic champion figure skaters are crippled, or nearly so, when they reach their late 30's because of damage caused by practicing triple jumps in their early teens. Hopefully computer assisted analysis will help train future young athletes so the price of being a champion isn't a lifetime of pain.
Great point, Bob. Adherence to more rigid training programs and the effective use of technology, simulation in particular, to learn and analyze movements has definitely contributed to the record-setting contributions of today's athletes. Hope you are enjoying this phenomenon at work at the London Olympics.
CFD analysis of swimsuit drag is one small aspect of computer assisted analysis of athlete performance. Runners movements are analysed in 1/1000 second intervals to determine the most efficient moment to apply motivating force. The same for gymnasts, swimmers, rowers, divers, all aspects of track and field. Initally the country that developes the programs will benefit most, but as the technology becomes more available, all countries will use it. Athletes today are performing at a level deemed impossible ten years ago. I really don't think we are physically or genetically superior to humans of ten or twenty years past; but we are significantly better trained and that training enhancement has come largely from improved computer assisted analysis of all aspects of human performance. Just imagine the records that will fall next year!
Unfortunately, the weights in horse racing aren't equal. They're handicaps to make the race more unpredictable/exciting:
'In a handicap horse race, varying amounts of weight are added to the horse saddles. This is an attempt to even out the competition, in case some horses are clearly more dominant than others. It makes the outcome more difficult to predict, which means the track makes more money.
As this excellent article by Laura Hillenbrand notes, Seabiscuit often raced in handicaps with an absurdly heavy load of 130 pounds. An extra weight of two to three pounds is usually enough to slow a horse by a length." (http://ask.yahoo.com/20030814.html)
Also, with all of the talk about the ancient Olympians competing naked, it's interesting to note the athletes did not like this feature. It was all men, and married women were not allowed to view the competition. Unmarried women, however, were encouraged to attend. Many young men were allowed to wear a leather thong.
The reason for the birthday suits is the same reason at the base of this discussion -- an attempt to make the competition fair.
That's funny, Rob, but so true. I have to cast a vote with the camp that clothing or equipment will continued to be designed to give player's an edge--it's just human nature and the pace of technology. Seems to be fair within reason, that is.
Even if they were all naked, someone would develop a particular oil that would reduce the drag and friction from skin. People will always figure out some way to get an edge.
I think that it is ridiculous that runners and divers wear less clothing than swimmers. I believe that athletic wear should be just enough to keep the person decent no more. Clothes in no way should be used to enhance performance. If they allow clothes to be used in such way then why prohibit drugs. The idea is to give equal chance to all that participate not just those that can afford expensive performance enhancing equipment. The original Olympians were naked.
Now, if they can only invent a suit that eliminates sag, pouch, and wrinkles, I will be their first customer!
Actually, I think all is fair in love and sports outfits. The prize should go to the one who uses physics and engineering to their advantage. Why have to live with what has gone on before, or they would be riding those silly big-wheel bicycles in the Olympics.
If a countries are going to keep going broke sponsoring these things, they might as well have a few world's records under their belts!
I think that the swimmers should be naked. That makes it clearly the athletes performance and not some technical advantage. Back when the Greeks started this competition, all the athletes were naked. I wish we were more enlightened about these matters but ...........
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
3 
