How Can High-Tech Sports Clothes Help Olympic Athletes Race Against Time?

The Rio Olympic Games are coming soon, and sports brand magnates have come up with innovative high-performance clothing.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Rio Olympic Games To start a war, it is important to choose the right sportswear on the battlefield.

Nike uses 3D printing technology to develop small silicon protrusions to reorientate airflow around the runner's body. The body scanner helps Adidas design swimsuits that keep swimmers in an ideal shape. Assos, a professional bicycle manufacturer in Switzerland, turned to the wind tunnel to make a tailored suit for the US team.

Around the sports meeting clothing With the formulation of the relevant rules, the development of sportswear footwear innovation is faster and faster, and it also benefits from the advanced level of clothing design and testing. It is also because of the clothing manufacturers' efforts to innovate, to make an article on this rule: to prevent high-performance sports clothing from becoming another stimulant to help raise the level of competition.

"We need to ensure that we comply with these rules, but we will try to get close to that edge," said Adam Clement, senior creative director of team sports at Under Armour. "Our goal is to innovate in a way that can ultimately change the rules of the Olympic Games. We will adjust, but we are proud of our achievements. "

Why is high-tech clothing so important?

Clothing must be fitted to minimize air resistance, especially for bicycles and swimming.

"In the 4 kilometer race, eighth were 4 seconds short of the first place," said JimMiller, vice president of the USACycling. However, improper fabric or design may bring discomfort or unnecessary weight to athletes, thereby counteracting drag reduction gains.

Even if the speed factor is not considered, the right sportswear can reduce the stimulation of sweat or heat, which is crucial in the hot climate of Rio De Janeiro. The summer Olympic Games will also be opened on Friday.

Problem solving

Good sportswear itself can not replace years of training, coach guidance and correct human mechanics, but bad clothing will cause physical injury to athletes.

"It's impossible to go out of the game when you think about wearing a pair of magic shoes," said Desiree Linden, an American marathon runner. "But if I train hard, the result is blistering or the right foot is not stable, which is not important than not playing."

Two years ago, the Sochi Winter Olympic Games introduced the Under Armour high speed speed skating suit later, and became the reason why some people accuse the US team of poor performance. Under Armour said it had been testing the 2018 Winter Olympic costumes, trying to get racers to get their clothes faster and tailor their different posture.

For the Rio Olympic Games, the American cyclists only got their Assos bicycles two weeks ago. If these clothes do not fit, they can choose to exchange their original clothes.

Making outfit

Generally speaking, as part of the brand sponsorship contract, Athletes Can get brand clothing and shoes.

Running equipment professional brand Brooks hopes Linden can participate in the design of her Hyperion shoes. The company said that the Hyperion shoes had no seams, which reduced the possibility of blistering. The rubber ring of the soles increased the friction on the wet surface, while containing and promoting the energy return.

"You are like a spring support," Linden said. "Energy is not consumed in the meantime, and ultimately returned to the runner, you will feel faster."

Brooks started selling the running shoes in June, while Linden and other Rio Olympic athletes need extra laser piercing to facilitate ventilation and heat Rio.

Under Armour uses the NASA spacesuit technology to reduce body temperature for the Canadian football team, the uniform made by the beach volleyball team in Switzerland and Holland. The crystal pattern inside the garment can absorb the heat emitted by the human body.

Nike's air drag reduction is being embedded in some more than 20 sports teams' sportswear, including the United States, Brazil, China and Germany. Nike also made these protrusions into adhesive tape, glued to arms and legs.

Where is the boundary?

Since the Speedo swimsuit helped American swimmer Phelps (MichaelPhelps) and other swimmers to win medals and break the record in the 2008 Olympic Games, the swimming industry has issued the most stringent rules. Their whole body swimsuit was developed by NASA to improve buoyancy and reduce drag.

Clothing manufacturers can still innovate, but just need more creativity. Michelle Miller, clothing concept director at Nike, said finding solutions is one of my favorite steps in the design process.

Swimmers such as British swimmers such as ChrisWalker-Hebborn wear a Adidas AdizeroXVI swimsuit with elastic tape to keep the body streamlined. This will minimize drag and push swimmers forward in the swimming pool. Because the rules only allow Adidas to place these elastic bands at the fabric seams, Adidas joins them in places where they want to put these elastic belts.

In addition to the elastic belt, Adidas does not take the unusual path to design a new product for breaststroke, and helps swimmers to get their legs out in the standard breaststroke position rather than traditional water.

R & D in laboratory

Omar Visentin, chief operating officer and former research director of Assos, said sportswear manufacturers now have more advanced methods of testing fabrics, cutting fabrics and measuring subtle performance differences.

"Other companies even use computer models to design the most perfect sportswear with the least prototype," said AjoySarkar, Professor of Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

For the New Balance "Vazee Sigma" running shoes that the US sprinter Trayyon Bromell will wear, NewBalance uses 3D printing technology to test various configurations to improve traction and speed up energy spanfer.

Nike also uses 3D printing technology and wind tunnel to improve its air resistance protuberance, which is only used in sprint events during the 2012 London Olympic Games. Miller said that the prototype of 3D printing technology enabled Nike to find the shape more suitable for long-distance running.

Adidas's AdizeroMD medium distance race shoes, not only in straight way, but also in corners to help runners. The shoes tested a variety of combinations of stiffness and thinness material, to ensure that Kenya David Rudisha and other runners are stable and do not slow down in the curve.

Adidas's directoroffuture Deborah Yeomans says engineers are working hard for the design after 10 years. 10 years later, people's expectations will naturally be higher.