With the continuous investment in sports and increasingly scientific training, the world record is now basically close to the limit of human beings, and the matter of breaking the world record has become more and more difficult.
In order to achieve better results, in addition to training hard, we also look to other ways, such as high-tech equipment.
Let's take a look at some of the high-tech gear that has appeared at the Olympics in recent years.
Doping
Doping, the infamous stuff, is not technologically equipment, although it is "high tech", but it must be mentioned.
In the 1920s, doping appeared in the Olympic Games, and athletes at the time were proud to use it.
During the Cold War, the U.S.-Soviet rivalry also extended to the Olympic Games, and in order to achieve results, the U.S.-Soviet athletes competed in the use of doping, and the use of doping reached its peak. This made the competition unfair and seriously violated the Olympic spirit. More and more people recognized this, and the 1988 Seoul Olympics became a turning point for anti-doping, and since then there have been huge advances in doping detection technology, and by the time we come to the 2021 timeframe, the anti-doping effort has made great strides, but it has not been completely eliminated.
Sharkskin swimsuits
Sharkskin swimsuits first appeared at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when Australia's Thorpe won three gold medals in them. This suit is said to increase the speed of swimmers by 3%, and this is only the first generation of sharkskin swimsuits, later also developed to the fourth generation.
Sharkskin swimsuits are a success story in the application of bionics. Scientists have found that the rough V-shaped folds on the surface of the shark skin can greatly reduce the friction of the water flow, so that the water flow around the body more efficiently, the shark was able to swim quickly. Sharkskin swimsuits are made with a micro-stretch fiber surface that is modeled after the surface of a shark's skin.
In the prevalence of sharkskin swimsuits, the swimming record of the century has been repeatedly broken, and the biggest beneficiary is the legendary American swimmer Phelps, in sharkskin swimsuits, wildly 23 Olympic gold medals, no one has ever seen, and I believe it is difficult to come back.
The turning point of the matter in 2009, July 28, Phelps in the swimming world championships 200 meters freestyle final was wearing more advanced sharkskin swimsuit German player Biedermann defeated, Phelps myth was ended. Later, under strong public pressure, FINA made a decision at the end of July 2009: "From 2010 onwards, the use of high-tech swimsuits in competition is prohibited".
Specialized Race Suits
Sprint stars such as Marion Jones of the United States and Cathy Freeman of Australia use special race suits developed by Nike. These suits are very sleek and have a hood that covers all parts of the sprinter's body except the face, arms and legs. This can play a role in muscle insulation and compression to improve the performance of the sprinters.
Australian marathoner Steve Moneghetti wore shorts and a tank top made from recycled soft drink bottles, which according to the manufacturer, Nike, are cooler than other fabrics.
The U.S. football and volleyball teams even borrowed NASA technology for their uniforms. The jerseys have a built-in mesh structure that absorbs heat and quickly expels it into the air.
Nike also provides many athletes with anti-air resistance suits that help sprinters reduce air resistance and achieve improved performance. The design process uses new technologies like wind tunnel testing and 3D printing.
Of course, our Chinese team is not doing nothing, the national track and field team uniforms used Nike's AeroBlades technology, the technology in the uniforms of the legs and arms on both sides of the increase in a one by one "small triangles" in the movement of athletes, these inconspicuous small triangles can be
In addition, the Chinese team's uniforms are said to use black technology - the material of the uniforms can effectively enhance venous return, reduce blood stasis, accelerate metabolism and achieve short-term recovery of the body's energy.
Specialized Running Shoes
Donovan Bailey, the Olympic champion in the 100-meter race, wore special running shoes made by Adidas. The special running shoes are claimed to have a hard metal plate that keeps human toes as stiff as a jaguar's claws during a race.
American sprinter Trayvon Bromell wears New Balance 3D-printed running shoes with spikes, and Kenyan sprinter David Rudisha wears Adidas Adizero MD running shoes, which are ****er, lighter, stronger, and able to improve stability and speed when running.
LumiWave Wearable Therapeutic Device
LumiWave is an infrared wearable therapeutic device that uses shimmering light therapy to help reduce pain, especially for strains, sprains, and joint inflammation, and allows for rapid recovery. LumiWave was first popularized within the Olympic team back in 2004.
Specifically, the device is equipped with 50 infrared LEDs, and when an athlete puts LumiWave on his or her body, the device emits pulses to increase blood circulation to the injured area, which further enhances the body's release of nitric oxide, and ultimately speeds up the recovery of individual cells.
Solos Smart Glasses
Solos Smart Glasses is a smart device similar to Google Glass that has become so popular among cyclists that it is now being used by cycling teams in the US.
Specifically, the plain-looking glasses are tweaked for cyclists, with a built-in heart rate sensor that monitors an athlete's heart rate, calories burned, and also provides real-time navigation as well as phone capabilities. Like Google Glass, Solos' display is projected directly onto the lenses of the glasses, quantifying the movement before giving personalized advice accordingly to the athlete's state, thus helping them adjust their cadence and speed.
Jelly headgear
Synchronized swimming is one of the most pleasing of the many Olympic disciplines, and it's important for athletes to look good. If the hair into the water unfortunately scattered, the cape is detrimental to the image. And the use of ordinary hairspray effect is not significant, but it is not difficult to defeat the smart athletes, they use actually jelly!
The "jelly" used by the girls is actually a sugar-free jelly powder-gel. The gel is a semi-solid, thick substance with no flow properties. Before the competition, the gel is whisked together with warm water and brushed onto the head in layers until each strand of hair is fully immobilized by the gel.
The "cryo-pod"
The "cryo-pod" gradually reduces the temperature to -140 degrees Celsius, and athletes wear special socks, underwear, and ear muffs to enter a small room. This small room is gradually moved into a colder, then the coldest chamber, the extreme cold temperature makes the athlete's blood vessels become narrow, blood flow and metabolism slowed down, the athlete leaves the freezing chamber after two minutes, their blood vessels will expand to four times the size of the normal, the blood with more oxygen circulation in the body, damaged or overworked tissues and joints can be healed, and, at the same time, the endorphins are suppressed at low temperatures. are suppressed in cold temperatures, which is excellent for pain relief." Because of its effectiveness in physical recovery, cryo recovery is used in some endurance programs such as long-distance running and swimming.
"Plateau Tent"
"Plateau Tent" is a large tent that can play a role similar to the role of hyperbaric oxygen chamber, this large tent has a set of oxygen circulation system, power work The tent has a set of oxygen circulation system, energized to work, the oxygen content of the tent is reduced compared with the outside environment. The tent can simulate the environment of plateau training on the plains. Plateau training can make an athlete's cardiorespiratory fitness strong, but usually, after returning to the plains for about three weeks, an athlete's condition will decline to varying degrees. The way to ensure the quality of plateau training and avoid the decline is to use a "plateau tent".