2012 Olympics Tech: For the Athletes

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The athletes participating in the London 2012 Olympics have reached the pinnacle of their profession, but they—and technology—aren't always content to leave it at just that.

Olympians have an obvious athletic edge over the rest of the population. Whether it's the result of genetics, dedication, parental drive, careful coaching, or a combination of all of the above, the athletes competing in the London 2012 Olympics have reached the pinnacle of their profession. But they—and technology—aren't always content to leave it at just that.

Olympic Tech Some of those who will be at the Games have spent hours biking a virtual course that's pedal-by-pedal identical to the one they'll travel in London. Others have run with a boost from NASA, and still others have had their practices analyzed not in miles per hour but in thousands of frames per second.

If these modern marvels seem like they're also giving some an unfair advantage, it's nothing new. The last time the games were in London, in 1948, the post-war conditions made for a stark contrast. Athletes were subject to the same rationing rules as the rest of London, being given a workman's portion at each mealtime. But some countries supplemented that with their own provisions; the United States flew in fresh fruit, meat, and bread daily to enhance the nutrition of its team.

Technology can also democratize improvement. Luc Fusaro, a design student at the Royal College of Art in London, has crafted what might be a speed-enhancing sneaker that can be custom fit to each wearer and produced by a 3D printer so that it's far more accessible and affordable than other custom gear. While Fusaro hopes to have it on the feet of Olympic athletes in 2016, athletes in 2012 will benefit from medical care and equipment at the Olympic Park that they cannot receive in their home countries. And ultramarathon runners, like Simon Wheatcroft, who was an Olympic torchbearer in London and is blind, is able to finally run on his neighborhood's streets on his own thanks to the app RunKeeper.

Here's a look at how the participants in 2012 are gaining an edge, thanks to technology.

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The X Factor
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The X Factor

The X Factor
An athlete is just one person, but he or she represents the hard work of many. Lolo Jones, Team USA Olympic hurdler, is the first to admit that. "It takes a team," Jones says in a video on Red Bull Project X that shows the members of hers: a coach, high-performance director, high-performance manager, sports technologist, coaching consultant, and a physiology consultant. But the technology they use is just as important.

Jones participated in Red Bull Project X, a technologically advanced training program that goes far beyond what normal coaching can accomplish. Project X uses three components—a Vicon 3D rendering system, the Optojump Next, and a Phantom Flex camera—to give a comprehensive and minute breakdown of an athlete's performance.

Jones' team attaches 39 reflective markers to her so that her movements can be tracked by 40 Vicon T40S motion-capture cameras that can record 2,000 frames per second. Her jumps are dissected by number, contact time, flight time, height, rhythm, specific energy, specific power, total energy, and total power by the Optojump Next, an optical measurement system with transmitting and receiving bars that have from 33 to 100 LEDs on each and calculate stats based on the interruptions between them. Every moment is captured by the Academy Award-winning technology of the Phantom Flex camera, which is capable of 10,750 frames per second.

"If you can fix one small thing over one hurdle, you're gonna fix that over ten hurdles," said Jones, whose average time in the 100-meter hurdles is 12.5 seconds.
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