Olympics brings out best in sports gear

Olympics brings out best in sports gear: "Olympics brings out best in sports gear

Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Olympics brings out best in sports gear

Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, August 16, 2008
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(08-15) 19:42 PDT -- Olympic gold medals have been won over the years by an Ethiopian running barefoot and by an American in nylon swim shorts.
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The PreCool Vest was designed by Nike to lower the body's...Nike's Hyperdunk basketball shoes are worn by Kobe Bryant.Colorado-based Retul created a three-dimensional, motion-... View More Images
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Running shoes have evolved from rigid leather and hand-forged spikes to aerodynamic wonders with strategic seam placement and thermoregulation designed by NASA engineers. And while the new Speedo LZR Racer has garnered about as much attention as its endorser, Michael Phelps, athletes in just about every Olympic venue are searching for the latest high-tech gear to give them the slightest edge.

With the beginning of track and field events in Beijing, the world will get its first look at everything from running shoes made with wave springs to space-age cooling vests to improve an athlete's endurance. Members of the U.S. Triathlon Team hope to benefit from a three-dimensional, motion-capture system that custom fits their bikes to their bodies. U.S. marathoners Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor are expected to wear shoes with soles made of rice husks and designed for their feet and for the Beijing course - taking into account the terrain, heat and humidity.

Some critics have questioned whether human performance is unfairly enhanced by all of the technology. But most athletes and many coaches say adopting the latest in gear and gadgets has become as fundamental as making improvements in training.

"Whether it's a racing suit versus a training suit or a new style of helmet, there's always some new technological development," said Scott Anderson, head athletic trainer at Stanford University, which has more than 40 current or former student athletes competing at the Olympics. "It's a part of the world we live in. But because there's so much money tied to the research and development of trying to find the next great thing, it's more on the radar than ever."
Rice husk shoes

Distance runner Ryan Hall, a Stanford graduate who will compete in the marathon, is sponsored by Asics, a Japanese sporting goods manufacturer responsible for the rice husk shoes. The rubber soles were packed with husks to absorb water, dissipate heat and provide better traction along the 26.2-mile route. The shoes were made for only three athletes - Hall, Kastor and Mizuki Noguchi of Japan, who won the women's marathon in 2004. They are to be worn only once.

Hall recently wrote in his Olympic blog that when he first received a test pair of the rice husk shoes, he thought they looked "incredibly simple: no excessive stylistic plastic to add any additional weight." After hitting the road with them, he said, "These shoes are more responsive than any shoes I have worn. I took them out on their first test drive during an interval workout in Big Bear. My legs felt like they were popping off the road and yet still had the support of a marathon shoe."

Another shoe generating attention - and controversy - is the Spira Stinger, expected to be worn in various track and field events this week. The bright yellow shoe with black detailing is controversial because of the patented springs in its midsole. USA Track and Field has a rule which "prohibits the incorporation of any technology which will give the wearer any unfair advantage, such as a spring."

Andy Krafsur, who founded the company with his wife Holly Fields, has challenged the rule, and at least three athletes - marathoners Joao N'Tyamba of Angola and Franklin Tenorio of Ecuador and triathlete Axel Zeebroek of Belgium - are wearing Spira shoes in the Olympics.

The shoe has a wave spring traditionally used in the aerospace and automotive industries, Krafsur said. He said it should not be banned because it doesn't give the wearer an unfair advantage.

"It doesn't return more than 100 percent of energy you put into it. It's not spring loaded," he said. "The fundamental difference with our technology over traditional footwear is that instead of using compressive materials such as foam, the midsole is mechanical and works off of deflection, not compression."

Krafsur submitted the shoe for review to the IAFF, the world governing body for track and field, but after two years of back and forth, it has yet to be banned or sanctioned.

"It's just like the battle with the oversized tennis racket or the metal driver" in golf, Krafsur said. "They were banned once, too. Now that's all you see. Rules can never keep pace with technological change."
Boost for triathletes

Technological change is a big part of the U.S. Triathlon team, whose members worked with a year-old Colorado-based company called Retul to fit bikes to bodies.

"You can no longer just look at a static body structure," said Todd Carver, who runs Retul's biomechanical analysis program. "Everyone pedals a bike differently. So one guy who is 6 feet tall is going to pedal a bike differently from another guy who is 6 feet. We record movement. We adjust the bike to maximize power and improve aerodynamics."

Some of the most hyped products being rolled out are by Nike, including the Hyperdunk basketball shoes worn by Kobe Bryant and the Zoom Victory track spike. Athletes also will be seen in Nike's new PreCool Vest, designed to lower the body's temperature before competition and thus improve endurance. The vest is made of two layers of material: The inner one is filled with frozen water and the outer layer is coated with aluminum to act like a thermos, trapping cold in while reflecting heat.

San Francisco personal trainer Ron Martin believes that the technological advances in gear and attire used by Olympians will eventually find their way to weekend warriors and everyday gym goers.

"Ten years ago, no one thought of wearing something like a heart rate monitor to work out," noted Martin, a private trainer at the Sports Club/LA in San Francisco. "Now, most of my clients wear them. The technology eventually trickles down to the mass market - which is great."
High-tech gear

Some of the most hyped products in use at the Beijing Olympics:

{utriangle} Colorado-based Retul created a three-dimensional, motion-capture system that custom fits athletes' bikes to their bodies.

-- Nike's Hyperdunk basketball shoes are worn by Kobe Bryant.

-- Nike also makes the Zoom Victory track spike.

{utriangle} The PreCool Vest was designed by Nike to lower the body's temperature before competition to improve endurance.

E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle