High-Tech Materials Vie for Olympic Gold
Olympic athletes often turn to high technology to bolster their performance. Four years ago, specially-designed swimsuits that allowed wearers to skim through the water just that much faster got the headlines. Now just in time for this year’s Olympic Games, Nike is introducing the new Pro TurboSpeed track suit made from ultra-lightweight materials. The suit features golf ball-like dimples and holes in strategic areas to enhance its aerodynamics. Some 1,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing and insights from world-class runners helped shape its design. Nike says the suit can shave up to .023 seconds off the time of a 100-meter dash compared to its previous suits, and predicts runners who wear it will gain personal bests and break records. Runners from the U.S., Germany, Russia, and China will be using it. Hidez is debuting its compression suit for horses. The suit is made from fast-drying, warp-knit stretch fabrics that are also antibacterial and stain-resistant. The idea is to help the animals more quickly recover from competitions, travel, and exercise. The suit improves circulation, brings more oxygen to tired equine muscles, speeds the removal of lactic acid and other wastes, and generally lessens the risk of injury to fatigued muscles. [ASEE Connections, June 2012]