Hidden Science in Pyeongchang Olympic sports clothing
- Sport Science
- Hit3269
- 2018-03-14
Hidden Science in Pyeongchang Olympic sports clothing
The 2018 Winter Olympics was held in Pyeongchang, Korea. Particularly, the athletes won numerous medals and received the public's acclaim in the short track race where Korea stands out the most. Let's take a closer look at what scientific principles are hidden in sports clothing of short track and speed skating.
The short track speed skating
To reduce the impact when athletes fall, sports clothes are made of bulletproof material on the shin and main parts. Because of the nature of the short track race, the athletes are turning the circle of the link at high speed, so reducing the resistance and friction of the air is an essential feature of the competition. Also, several athletes play in one race at the same time, so that players can collide with each other and hurt, so there are uniforms with pockets to wear various pads.
The speed skating
The difference from the short track is that the speed skating wears an all-in-one uniform from head to toe without a helmet. Both have the same goal of reducing air resistance, but speed skating is important for minimizing air resistance up to the head because it is competition which is challenging up to 0.01 seconds. So, instead of a helmet, athletes wear a hood attached to the sports clothes so that air does not enter the forehead and ears.
This article is a translation of SKKUZINE.
(Source: https://www.skkuzine.com/Culture/view/1414)