The speed skating events in the Olympics this weekend kicked off with a fully orange podium in the men’s 5k event. The woman’s 3k golden medal was also awarded to the Dutch. What is it with this little country that makes them so good at speed skating?
Snurfing! What will be the next big thing in snow sports?
In 1965 American Sherman Poppen fastened two skis together and called it “snurfing”. But why has nobody heard of snurfing? Probably because most people now know it as snowboarding. Why did it take so long for snurfing to develop into one of the most popular snow sports of the 21st century? There is still some […]
The need for speed: the downhill toboggan world record
Sometimes you get a phone call and someone asks you for help: they get you on a good day, at a positive moment and you think “yeah, why not? That sounds like fun”. Later, you realise you’re committed to helping to break a world record — the fastest speed for a gravity powered sled — and people […]
Top technologies in sport: number 3
The ingredients for the sports revolution During Queen Victoria’s reign between 1837 and 1901, the population of Britain more than doubled while the economy grew by over 360% (equivalent to an increase in GDP of 2% per year for over 60 years). In 1850 and 1878, two acts of Parliament gave factory workers half a […]
Top technologies in sport: number 2
The invention of the lawnmower allowed the middle classes of 1860s Victorian Britain to create lawns for the exciting new game of croquet. Croquet was about to be eclipsed, however, by the new game of Lawn Tennis, patented by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873 as a game that came in a box. Wingfield initially called […]
Top technologies in sport: Number 1
As a starting point for the beginning of modern sport, Victorian Britain is a pretty safe bet. Which technologies helped create modern sport as we know it? My next few articles will take you through the top technologies I think were crucial for the development of sport — and they’re not necessarily the ones you might […]
When did sports technology begin?
I’ve often wondered, if I were to write a history of sports technology, when I should start? In 774 BC at the inception of the Ancient Olympic Games? Or in 300 AD at the height of the Roman Empire? By this time the Games had expanded to include the pentathlon, racing in armour and even […]
Football and skill: why you’re not as individual as you think you are
As much as I hate football (for explanation – I’m a Blackburn Rovers fan; enough said) I’m enjoying my holiday read. It’s The Numbers Game by Chris Anderson and David Sally and is subtitled “Why everything you know about football is wrong”. It’s not actually the best thing to relax to as I keep jumping […]
Cycling’s a drag, but it doesn’t have to be
After a regrettably lengthy hiatus from the blog, this article was inspired by the excellent aerodynamics segments of the ITV’s tour de France coverage (in collaboration with Southampton University). Cycling aerodynamics in the 1980’s A few years ago my colleague Dr Richard Lukes wrote a review paper titled “The understanding and development of cycling aerodynamics” […]
Physics and the Games: a winning formula – Video
The Institute of Physics (IOP) runs an annual lecture tour which visits many schools in Great Britain. These tours aim to enthuse and engage, showing how physics is a relevant and interesting topic. The Centre for Sports Engineering Research is very lucky to have been involved with the tour on two separate occasions. In 2012 Leon Foster […]
Engineering Sport 