Banned: The full-length swimsuit worn in swimming competitions including the controversial Beijing Olympics. On the first of the year the Federation Internationale De Natation (FINA), the governing body of competitive swimming; water polo; diving; synchronized swimming and open water swimming, ruled that competitive swimmers must discontinue the use of the rubberized suits. Now the aftermath and controversy of so many new world’s records takes place.
Last year 108 world records were broken, and nearly 30 so far this year, cites an article on Canadian radio site CBC. A second article mentions other sports associations enforce an 18-month waiting period when revolutionary technology is introduced to equipment. These suits were embraced after just three months of testing. And not all competitors had access to the suits during training and competitions. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno welcomes new sponsor BMW.
Years ago it was BMW Films. Short pideos of theater-quality storylines that highlighted the auto brand and were fun to watch. Now BMW is putting money behind the United States Olympic Committee.The six-year deal makes BMW the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee and of four National Governing Bodies: USA Bobsled & Skeleton, U.S. Speedskating, USA Swimming and USA Track & Field. This is multi-million dollar agreement isn’t just a monetary commitment. The sponsor will provide the USOC with fundraising opportunities and the four NGB groups will gain access to BMW Group technical expertise. BMW group will use its experts, deep technology base and facilities to help the Olympic and Paralympic Teams improve their training and performance. Teams will get to use the auto manufacturer’s facilities including the wind tunnel to test aerodynamics.
Seeing isn’t merely believing, seeing is what allows you go from competitor to winner – at least when it comes to swimming.
Tyr Sports Next Pro Nano
And whether you’re hitting the pool, or getting wet and wild in a triathlon, the TYR Sports Nest Pro Nano will let you see clearly.
These performance goggles are inspired by the unique bird nest architectural design of Beijing’s main stadium that was used in the 2008 Olympics, and this nest design provides intertwined support to give a more open field of vision. That can be good in a pool or in open water. The Nano also features a nice and compact frame, along with smaller gaskets so it is ideal for smaller faces and children. And at $24 these goggles are affordable enough as well, allowing you to see your way to victory.
Women's rugby player Christy Ringgenberg passes the ball.
Women are flocking to join rugby teams now that it is an Olympic sport. The United States will play this August in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England. A recent New York Times article talks about college and youth teams, and how women are migrating from sports such as basketball, volleyball, and softball to the contact sport of Rugby.
Coaches have to get their teams in competitive form to play in these competitions. One men’s team in the U.K., Mike Ford, uses his laptop to view video clips and select the highlights to go over with the team rather than have players sit through playback of full games or even full plays from numerous videos. This maximizes training time giving players a chance to see the moves that work, and the ones that don’t. It also gives them more time on the field to get into condition.
Rudy Project was the eyewear of choice of Olympic athlete Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia who won gold in the women's biathlon.
As the Olympics close, the Rudy Project reports it had a hand in 18 medals, internationally. Before the torch was lit, Rudy Project said it would supply eyewear to a number of Olympic athletes. The round-up of athletes that placed on the podium included gold for women’s biathlon competitor Anastazia Kuzmina from Slovakia, who also won a silver medal. German cross country skier Claudia Nystad won gold in the team sprint. Johan Olsson from Sweden took gold in the cross country 4 x 10 relay.
Kinetic Shift congratulates all the athletes who competed in the Olympics. And kudos to Rudy Project for supporting so many winning athletes.
Today marks the beginning of the action sport of curling in the 2010 Olympic Games. OK, we’re joking about the action, but the truth is that the sport has also gotten some high tech aids this year. The Edmonton Sun ran a feature this week that notes how the Canadians are using various advances such sensors, along with high-speed cameras to help.
Clearly even a sport using nothing more than a “rock,” brooms and ice can go high tech in the new millennium.
Riding a thin board down a track made of ice, and doing it headfirst would be enough to scare the life out of you (And we say this with absolutely no disrespect to Georgian luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was tragically killed last week at the end of a training run. Our condolences go out to his family and his teammates).
Maybe that is why this sport is called the “skeleton,” which was permanently added to the Olympic Games in 2002. The sport evolved from a form of tobogganing called cresta sledding, and dates to the 1880s. The difference today is that riders only use their bodies to guide the sled, instead of using skates to help steer. The U.S. Olympic skeleton team prepared with help from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York where engineering professor Timothy Wei and his team built a special custom-made simulator to help understand wind resistance. But they should know against a highly trained athlete, resistance even of the wind variety if futile.
We wish all the skeleton and luge riders safe runs!
If you’re lucky enough to be at the Olympic Games in Vancouver do you really want to check out TV? Actually, maybe you do, at least if its Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Theatre, which will show off the company’s new HDTVs. So if you’re in Vancouver, but can’t see the opening ceremonies or other events, head over to one of the two Panasonic theatres at David Lam Park, which will be showcasing the Opening Ceremony, as well as highlights of the 2010 Winter Games including the video of Sarah Brightman performing Panasonic’s song, “Shall be Done.”
The Panasonic sets will be released later this year, and available in 50-inch, 54-inch, 58-inch and a massive 65-inch screen sizes. These reproduced images alternately at 60 frames per second for each eye for a total of 120 frames per second. To experience this users do need the viewer to wear high-precision 3D eyewear with shutters driven in synchronization with the video, but viewers are treated to separate 1920×1080 full-HD images. So even if you can’t make it to Vancouver, you’ll be able to feel like you’re in London for the next Summer Olympics in 2012.
The Olympics Games that will kick off this week could just go down in history as the most high tech ever. And while there will be no shortage of space age materials with the clothing, as well as nifty new improvements to the skates, sleds and skis, the real tech boon is in how the games are being delivered to the masses.
Our friends at Cnet.com are reporting that there will be more than 5,000 kilometers of cables, more than 40,000 Ethernet ports, more than 6,000 PCs, more than 3,000 TVs, more than 7,000 two-way radios and more than 7,000 radios used by the organizers to deliver the games. Consider that with the very first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 it took days for results to reach America, and now access to results will be instantaneous. One major change this year is that unlike in past years, all video, data and voice will traverse one IP network set up Atos Origin, Bell Canada and Avaya. To manage all this, the Olympic organizers now even have a full-time CIO on board. Let the games begin, and may the network not go down!
With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics about a week away, our interest is peaked. KineticShift will report on some of the news, but we’re looking at athletes’ gear and clothing as well as the technology used to judge results. For results and other news, we look to a few news outlets. Top on our list is a site created by the Associated Press to cover the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Go to http://wintergames.ap.org to check out all the events surrounding the Games. AP, which has covered the Olympics since the Games were revived in 1896, will post coverage from its sports writers, related stories from other writers, and produce a daily Webcast, “Beyond the Medal” hosted by snowboarder and reality TV personality Jesse Csincsak.
