__International jock police should forget about controlling technology's impact on sports. It's the 21st century - let the augmentations begin. __
Italian physicist Ciro Fusco thinks he knows exactly what could stop a muscled-up sprinter from winning gold at this month's Summer Games in Sydney, Australia - the spikes on his or her shoes, which have a tiny-but-measurable "glue effect" when they stab a track's surface. Fusco has spent the last four years studying such minutiae while developing adidas gear for the 2000 Olympics. He and a team of engineers used computer modeling to rethink the existing shape of track spikes; what emerged was a shallow Z-shaped cleat, made from a ceramic-aluminum alloy, that doesn't poke into the runway. Instead the shoe grabs the running surface and then easily lets go.
It all sounds a little obsessive, but at a time when jocks are maxing out the body's capabilities, micro-innovations can add up. "Athletes have reached certain physical limitations," says Fusco. "And now technology is optimizing their performance."
Of course, the five-ring brass gets nervous when it hears talk of enhancements beyond extra effort, pep talks, and Gatorade; they're forever scrambling to control technology's growing influence on sports. Witness the absence (due to tubing size restrictions) from Sydney's velodromes of the aerodynamic, carbon-fiber bikes that were rolled out four years ago in Atlanta, and the mandate given to Speedo, in the name of fair play, to dole out its sleek new swimsuits to any competitor who wants one. As for drugs, notorious test-tube elixirs like human growth hormone and erythropoietin are coming under more scrutiny than ever. Nevertheless, International Olympic Committee officials have all but conceded that their ability to test for banned substances isn't reliable enough to catch everybody.
Which raises a point: It may be time to reexamine this whole athletic purity thing and say to hell with it. Within at least five years, elite athletes will be able to obtain genetic upgrades, injecting mutated nucleotide chains that stimulate the production of oxygen-toting red blood cells or increased musculature. Olympic officials might not be able to stop that either, so wouldn't it be better to make sure everybody, including those teensy badminton players from South Korea, gets a safe, reliable gene boost? (And while we're at it, could we put Flubber tips on the shuttlecocks to liven up the action?)
In celebration of this escalating pursuit of faster-higher-stronger, we've compiled a cutting-edge athlete's duffel of techno-enhanced clothing, equipment, and drugs that will help the world's athletes mine gold starting September 15 and running through the October Paralympics. After that comes some innovations for the future. Although these optimizers may take a while to debut, an Olympic year is the perfect time to recognize the spirit they represent: Screw purity - what we want is possibility.
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ARROW DYNAMIC To battle Sydney's 20-knot springtime gusts and enhance the accuracy of the venerable X10 arrow long used in archery competition, Easton Technical Products sought out technology from a Defense Department contractor that builds tank-killing shells. The new addition to the barrel-shaped, aluminum/carbon-fiber shaft is a tungsten tip that's 2.2 times denser than conventional steel. With more of the arrow's weight concentrated at the front, the upgraded X10 travels straighter in a crosswind.
FUEL INJECTION Sports drugs now come in more blends than you'll find at Starbucks. With the threat of a new Olympic dope test that could detect EPO (the popular hormone that stimulates the formation of red blood cells and thereby increases aerobic capacity by up to 15 percent), endurance athletes have found a new way to boost the transport of oxygen to redlining muscles. The illicit concoction is a blood expander - an undetectable and experimental synthetic plasma that carries additional oxygen and was originally designed for people in need of transfusions. Problem is, the shelf life of these red-cell substitutes can be short, and they may have been responsible for trauma-patient deaths in clinical trials. "The artificial blood could cause an allergic reaction, get stuck in your kidneys, and cause them to fail," warns Don Catlin, an opponent of such tactics who directs UCLA's Olympic Analytical Lab.
SKIN TRADE The most impressive of the new uniforms debuting Down Under is Speedo's intricately textured Fastskin. Following four years of development, the full-body stretch-nylon swimsuit is covered with tiny scales and sharklike, V-shaped ridges. Water literally breaks off the Fastskin, lowering hydrodynamic drag by 6 percent over conventional spandex. Meanwhile, adidas' One-Armed Throwing Suit for javelin and discus competitors, as well as shot-putters, has a Power Lycra sleeve that compresses the athlete's arm to heighten proprioception, or the awareness of where one's limbs are in space. And Nike's Swift Suit has golf ball-style dimples on the arms and legs to cut down runner-generated turbulence.
THRUST AND PARRY Fencers' feet perform distinctly different tasks, so adidas designers concluded that fencing footwear should follow suit. The lead shoe (far right) is always pointing at the opponent and moving back and forth, so the rubber tread runs side to side for maximum traction. A generous helping of foam cushioning provides for softer landings during Zorro-style attacks. The rear shoe, positioned perpendicular to the lead shoe, is canted toward the arch, easily rolling inward when an athlete lunges forward.
LIVE HIGH, TRAIN LOW One big conundrum for endurance athletes is finding a way to sleep at high elevations (where thin air prompts the body to produce more red blood cells) and train at sea level (where oxygen- rich air permits exercise at the greatest intensities). Solution: the Hypoxico Tent System. The collapsible tent can accommodate a queen-sized bed and is attached to a hypoxicator, or air-separation generator, that withholds enough oxygen molecules to simulate conditions up to 9,000 feet. Olympic race-walkers and cyclists have been snoozing between the nylon walls since late last year.
INTERNAL COMBUSTION The night-before group spaghetti-feed has been delivered a death blow: Performance diets are now tailored to the requirements of individuals and their sports. It begins with a prick of the finger in the lab, where white blood cells are isolated and analyzed down to the DNA level. After testing the effectiveness of various nutrients on the cells, a nutritionist determines specific responsiveness to such things as carbs and protein, and builds a custom diet that can result in fewer injuries and better performance. "Athletes in the same event can have very different dietary needs," says Jeffrey Bland, a nutritional bio-chemist and president of Washington's Institute for Functional Medicine, which is attracting the doctors of Olympic cyclists and runners.
SPRING ACTION Some Paralympic runners will strap on Flex-Foot's latest Sprint-Flex III prosthetic, a carbon-fiber, bowed spring of a lower limb, to speed them down the track. Drawing on feed-back from athletes, designers at the Aliso Viejo, California, company built the Sprint-Flex III's toe about 2 inches longer than earlier models for increased ground contact and better stability when launching out of the blocks. Look for the 2.5-pound artificial shin to propel a 100-meter competitor under the previously unassailable 11-second barrier.
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HIGH STYLE What athletes wear to future games will be considerably more than just a fashion statement. Record-breaking bodyware will carry chemicals that convert sweat into energy or trigger timed, in-body adrenaline releases. "Nanofactories will synthesize chemicals directly on the fabric," says Stephen Michielsen, a professor of textile and fiber engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Another closet possibility: duds knitted with optical fibers to transmit an athlete's voice and physiological data (heart rate, for instance) to a coach pacing the sidelines.
MANMADE MUSCLES Researchers at MIT are growing tissue in their petri dishes that could make prosthetics more human and less contraption, adding developed calf muscle, for example, to an already powerful, energy-rebounding limb like the Sprint-Flex III. Genetic- and nerve-related hurdles, as well as circulation-system issues, are currently keeping manmade muscles from being as good as the real thing. But the big brains believe their cultured muscles can grow stronger with use, and run less on battery power than sugar water. "The idea is that machines will be somewhat like us," says Hugh Herr, the MIT project director and a double-below-knee amputee. "In my lifetime, I would love to feed my prosthetic ankles."
CONTACT LENSES Talk about synchronized swimming: Goggles with heads-up displays will make sure athletes swim their race by the numbers. Inside the goggles' lenses, stroke rate, elapsed time, and other key data will be projected the way vital information is flashed onto a fighter pilot's windshield. In addition, a poolside computer would be fed physiological statistics via telemetry so coaches could analyze the numbers and send radio-communicated advice to swimmers wearing remote headsets attached to goggle straps. By the time athletes make a splash in Athens four years from now, they'll be able to get and give feedback with nary a pause between strokes.
REDEFINING RUNWAY Nike engineers are betting that a high heel, not a sneaker, will produce the fastest times. Observing that full-tilt runners never come down off the balls of their feet during the first 10 meters of a race, researchers hypothesize that if an athlete could continue for the next 90 meters using the same stride, records would be broken. "The foot needs to act as a lever so the power coming from the rest of your body doesn't vanish," says Tom Carleo, head of shoe development for Nike's Olympic runners. "We're trying to improve on natural locomotion." Swooshed pumps, with heels kept high by springs, could be prototyped within two years.
TURBO TABLETS Who says performance-enhancing pills have to mess with your chemistry? Already being used by astronauts and soldiers to avert overheating and dehydration, one disposable sensor capsule from Palmetto, Florida's HTI Technologies could be repurposed by solo endurance athletes and team players to measure everything from body temperature to heart rate. Readings from the ingestible devices are sent to a Polar receiver and displayed on a handheld telemeter. While still only theory, another concentrated tablet envisioned by physiologist Bob Murray, director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, could release carbohydrates over time, ensuring optimal performance.
