You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Olympics’ category.
Well, 2012 is here. At last. It’s been a long wait and it seems like we’ve been talking about 2012 forever. For anyone involved in elite sport it is like a switch has been thrown – I’m only on the periphery and it’s manic so it must be crazy for those at the centre of it all. As part of the celebrations of the role of science in sport, I’ve been working with the Royal Institution in London on a project funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK) to put on a series of 6 events to showcase the UK science community’s efforts behind the scenes. Opened by David Willets MP (the UK Minister for Universities and Science), the first event was held on 25th January at the Royal Institution on the topic of wheelchair basketball (as far as we know the first time wheelchair basketball has featured in the famous Faraday Lecture Theatre).
Not only did the audience learn something new, we found out what the audience thought of science and sport.
Tyler Saunders shoots a perfect basket in the Faraday Lecture Theatre at the Royal Institution.
Over the past couple of years I have been quite busy speaking about the role of technology in disability sport at numerous science festivals and conferences. South Africa’s ground breaking decision to select the bi-lateral amputee, Oscar Pistorius, to compete at the IAAF World Championships in South Korea has prompted me to finally write a new blog post on the topic.
I am a huge supporter of disability sport and have been privileged to attend the past two Paralympic Games. I also lead a major Cultural Olympiad project called Extraordinary Moves that aims to challenge perceptions of disability through the creation of a new body of provocative artworks. Furthermore, through academic research I have tried to understand why some performance enhancing technologies are permitted, whilst other are prohibited. Perhaps I am somewhat qualified to comment on this highly emotive issue.
The effects of wind on long distance running have been discussed on this blog previously, particularly on marathons. Now with the approach of the World Athletics Championships, I thought I would look at the effects of wind on sprinting.
I will begin with my own experiences – when I was a teenager I was an enthusiastic 100m and 200m runner. I remember turning up to local athletics competitions with my fingers crossed that there would be a tailwind rather than a headwind in the pursuit of a personal best . In my own experience the wind had an obvious effect, but can we quantify the effect of the wind in a sprint race? What does the effect mean in general?
The common perception of engineering and sport is that of shiny new bikes, aerodynamic helmets and sleek bobsleds. I often get asked, “isn’t it just the best equipment that wins now, rather than the athlete?” The answer – as far as I’m concerned – is obviously “no” and I’ve spent my working life in the field of sports engineering. I’ll explain why.
Skeleton bobsleigh simulation using ANSYS (formerly Fluent) CFD, and Ensight software. Skeleton and slider model of Kristan Bromley created from 3D laser scanning and surfacing with Geomagic Studio.
We have known for quite some time here at Sheffield Hallam University the value of using sport to teach science. Sport is ideal for grabbing people’s attention and getting them interested in science, engineering and technology. We often do public lectures which are always packed out by people interested in sport who also want to know more about the science. We explain complex scientific problems and the hard bit is usually trying to stop the questions at the end. If you’re thinking about using sport to teach science (especially as the Olympics approaches) then here are some resources that might float your boat.
Enjoy!
Sports Lab: our very own interactive exhibit in Sheffield’s Weston Park Museum on the science behind the medals.
The velodrome which will host the track cycling events at the 2012 Olympics in London is now open. The facility is the first to open in the Olympic village and has been given the title of the ‘best in the World’. When a country hosts a major sports event, such as the Olympics, they want to show off their facilities to the world and create a lasting legacy. This usually means impressive architecture, such as the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, or state-of-the-art transport links and infrastructure. The engineers behind the new velodrome have gone a step further by designing the facility specifically to allow the cyclists to ride faster and hopefully break world records. In addition to a specially designed track, the air temperature in the velodrome will be higher than usual to reduce aerodynamic drag acting on the cyclists. For those of you worried about breaking a sweat whilst you watch, don’t worry the spectator area will be nice and cool!
Fig. 1. Usain Bolt winning gold in the World Championships in Berlin 2009 (click to watch the performance).
A lot has been said about Usain Bolt – his brilliance, his stature and his music tastes. But the suggestion that he is the limit of human performance has been soundly rebuffed by sports scientists and statisticians alike. We did the same as many others and looked at previous performances to see if there was anything in the statistics that would allow us to make predictions. Read the rest of this entry »
Introduction
Usain Bolt is currently the fastest sprinter in the world. His two world records in last year’s athletics world championships were astonishing even for his standards, but what next? Bolt has often talked about reverting to competing in his original event of the 400 metres, and has already competed in a 400 metre race this year. If he focuses his training sufficiently, he may be able to top Michael Johnson’s 400 metre world record (43.18 seconds), which has stood for 11 years. Bolt has also told his coach that he would love to try his hand at the long jump and thinks that he would be very good at it. Is this likely? Could Bolt be any good at the long jump, and will we see any new world records?
It’s all downhill from here
After the worst winter for 47 years, the snow has finally gone. I miss it already and now I’m looking forward to virtual winter from the comfort of my armchair courtesy of the BBC and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Britain is not best suited for winter sports since we only get decent conditions once in every blue moon. GB have only gained 15 medals in the history of the Winter Olympics but we do seem to be getting better with 9 of them in the last 4 decades compared to 6 in the first four. Our best ever performance was a gold, a silver and a bronze way back in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Figure 1. Bobsleigh 1928 style.
wiredchop
leonfoster
theclownshoes
David Curtis
stevehaake
drdavidjames
hdriscoll
joemcafield
engsportguest
sheffieldbullet
