The
Influence of Technology in Sports Performance1
Ng Wei Kiat Matthew (matthew.ng.2013@accountancy.smu.edu.sg),
1st Year student, Bachelor of Accountancy, Singapore Management University
Executive
Summary
This paper seeks to explore how technology has
influenced performance in the sporting scene. The author will be focusing on
sports equipment and its functionality as well as training methods. Furthermore
this paper will delve into the future possibilities of technology in this
sporting world and the ethical, legal, and socioeconomic implications that
follow.
1
Introduction
Since time immemorial, sporting performances have
been used as a stage for countries to display their power and strength. Back in
1936, Adolf Hitler used the Olympics as a stage to promote Aryan nationalism
for Germany with his ideological belief of racial supremacy (Kessler, 2011). Until
more recently in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, we can see China and the United
States of America vying for top spot in the medal tallies ("Olympic Medal Tables", 2012). Sports
also have this special attraction that can make people gravitate to it. Every
year, billions of people tune in to the Olympic Games and many other sporting
events around the globe. The revenue that goes around is thus very much a
substantial amount. With the world’s attention on these events, it will mean
high stakes for athletes who will want to outdo one another using all means
available which naturally includes the use of technology.
As countries and athletes continuously want to emerge
victorious in these sporting events, technology used in sports is constantly
kept updated. It follows that sporting performances have been improving
throughout the years. Hence we can say that sports will always be at the
forefront of any technological advancement.
This
paper examines how technology has improved performance in the sporting scene since
the first ancient Olympic Games in the 7th century BC. The focus of
the paper will be on the three main areas; namely, sports equipment, training
methods, and diet. First it will delve into the gradual evolution of the
abovementioned areas over the centuries up till the 20th century.
Next, it examines the current situation that the world is in, including the
latest technology that is being used in sports to improve performances. Social,
economic and legal implications on the dependence on technology are also
discussed as athletes challenge the boundaries to achieve their performance
breakthrough. Finally, this paper forecasts the future possibilities of
technology in sports and evaluates the impact such technological developments may
have on the world.
The
limitations of this paper include the lack of in-depth explanation into the
specific technologies used to enhance sports performance as that would require
specialized knowledge in the fields including material engineering, physics and
nutrition. There is also the difficulty of comparing different sports as
technologies have differing impacts on each of them. Nevertheless, the author
has, to the best of his abilities and knowledge, provided his analysis,
evaluations and insights throughout the paper, especially in the section on
future considerations.
2
From past to present(From Historical Perspective to Current Situation)
|
Year
|
1900
|
1912
|
1924
|
1936
|
1948
|
1960
|
1972
|
1984
|
1996
|
2008
|
|
Winner
|
Frank Jarvis (USA)
|
Ralph Craig (USA)
|
Harold Abrahams (GBR)
|
Jesse Owens (USA)
|
Harrison Dillard (USA)
|
Armin Hary (GER)
|
Valery Borzov (URS)
|
Carl Lewis (USA)
|
Donovan Bailey (CAN)
|
Usain Bolt (JAM)
|
|
Result(s)
|
11.0
|
10.8
|
10.6
|
10.3
|
10.3
|
10.2
|
10.14
|
9.99
|
9.84
|
9.69
|
Table 1: Olympic 100m Men Gold
medal results over the years from 1900.
In table 1, we can see that the results of the 100m
Men track event at the Olympic Games have been steadily improving since the
1900s. This is just one of many examples of sporting records being broken
throughout the years. Technology is arguably the main factor for this marked
improvement of the athlete’s performance. This section of the report will examine
how technology does this. It is divided into three segments: Sports equipment,
Training methods and Diet. For each of the segments there will be a brief
overview of the historical situation which is contrasted with the present
situation. Each segment will also be substantiated with illustrations and
examples to make understanding easier for the reader.
2.1 Sports
equipment
Sports
equipment is a general term for any object used for the purpose of sport. In
ancient times, prior to the mass commercialization and monetization of sports,
most games were simply created for leisure using whatever goods and materials
that were already readily available. This meant that early sports equipment was
made from natural products such as wood, leather and other animal parts. The first
soccer balls made in the 16th century were composed of an outer
leather shell and a pig’s bladder that served as the air-containment unit (“Oldest
football to”, 2006). The first tennis racquets in the 18th
century were made of wood (“History of Tennis”, n.d.) and the racquet strings were
manufactured from animal intestine, with pig, sheep and cow gut all proving popular
at various times(“natural gut”, 2003).
Once
sport became more organized and competitive, the influx of technology and the
use of novel materials became routine. Sports equipment are repeatedly enhanced
with the latest materials and workmanship to maximize the athlete’s performance.
Thus, by the 20th century, research and development by many sports
equipment companies have resulted in materials such as aluminium and titanium
alloys, Kevlar, and neoprene being more commonly used. These synthetic
materials contributed significantly to the improved performances of the athletes.
In 1896,
American Bill Hoyt won gold in the pole vault during the first modern
Olympics in Athens, Greece. In today’s context, the jump height of 3.30 m
that secured him his medal would fall considerably short of the standard
required to even qualify for the 2012 Games in London. The current men’s
Olympic pole vault record is as high as 5.96 m, and Australian
Steven Hooker set it in 2008. The stark difference between the two athletes
in this case will be the pole that they used. Hoyt achieved his win in the 1896
Olympics with a fully wooden pole while the current Olympic pole vault record
was achieved with a pole made of highly engineered composite materials (Caine,
Blair, & Vasquez, 2012).
Similarly
in the swimming arena, we have seen records broken at almost every Olympic Games.
This is largely due to advanced swimsuits that mimic the properties of shark
skin and provide the swimmer with reduced surface and form drag. The suit makes
swimmers more hydrodynamic and consequently faster. Then came the emergence of
the polyurethane suits. In the beginning of 2008, leading swimsuit manufacturer
Speedo came up with the LZR Racer. The suit was made of 50% polyurethane and
designed with help of NASA. It was hailed as an innovative technological
breakthrough in the swimming world. The results did not disappoint as 25 world
records fell in Beijing, and the majority of them were broken by athletes
wearing LZRs or suits with a similar technology. On the following year, 100%
polyurethane suits were introduced and 43 world records fell at the World
Championships in Rome (Wilson, 2012). After that incident, the world governing
body for swimming, FINA, decided that to ban all swimsuits with this technology.
Now, not only do these suits have to be made of traditional fabric, but they
also cannot extend past the knees. And as for men, any surface above the belly
button cannot be covered by the suits. (Haake, 2012)
2.2 Training Methods
Besides the equipment that they use, training
methods have traditionally contributed to improvement in sports performance.
Athletes train to both improve their physical conditioning as well as to
familiarise their routine on the actual day. In the olden days, athletes merely
train repetitively and hope to achieve the best result on competition day.
However, athletes of today are exposed to new and innovative training methods
that make use of the latest technology. One such illustration will be the rise
of video recording in sports, where athletes watch their own and their
opponent’s performance so as to better their own performances and get an edge
over their rivals. Other more advanced technologies include the detailed digital
analysis of an athlete’s performance based information collected in competition
and in training. Furthermore, methods to shorten athlete rehabilitation time
have also emerged.
Technological advancements enabled us to come up
with sophisticated data analytical methods such as data mining, where the focus
is upon exploration and developing new insights to increase performance levels.
These methods are becoming increasingly useful in analysing elite sports
performance due to the competitive nature of these events where even finest
margins are extremely significant (Ofoghi, Zeleznikow, MacMahon, & Raab,
2013). For example, to understand the common mistakes made by a defence of a
soccer team, the coach may be interested in knowing the position of players at
the time that certain mistakes were related to them. The coach can then find
the best strategy to reduce the frequency of mistakes so as to let the team
have the highest chance of success (Ofoghi et al., 2013).
Another form of innovative training method would be
the use of technology to replicate in-game scenarios that the athletes can use
to even out weaknesses in their game. The use of such technology can be seen in
the short flim (McDowall, 2011) where star soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo is
subjected to several tests of his capabilities. The technology used in that
video can be extrapolated to be used in training such athletes as conditions
such as lighting can be controlled and the athlete can only rely on their
feeling and sense of anticipation to get contact on the ball. This is
especially applicable in soccer games when soccer players are focused on their
opponents such that they cannot keep their eyes on the ball the whole time.
3
Future Considerations
While the author has explored some of the use of
technology in sports, the list is certainly not exhaustive. Projecting into the
future, the increasing use of technology in sports can bring about a situation
where athletes are competing based on the technology that they use and not
their true capabilities. This section examines some of the considerations that
the author believes could arise if technology is being used extensively to
enhance sports performance. The future considerations that will be discussed in
this paper relate to the ethical and legal issues that arise, and the
socioeconomic impacts of using technology in sports
3.1 Ethical and legal issues
While sporting achievements can be gauged in
absolute terms, the extensive use of technology in sports presents some ethical
issues where the lines are blurred. We can clearly enhance athlete performances
by allowing the use of technology, but where should the line be drawn, or
should there be no restrictions? The author of this paper feels that the line
should be drawn to ensure that it is the people and not technology that is
competing.
The golf balls with unique dimple patterns, stiffer
carbon fibre vaulting pole and tennis rackets all lead to better athlete
performances (Froes, 1997). Hence these advancements in sports equipment are
widely accepted until recently where the world governing body for swimming,
FINA, banned the use of polyurethane swimsuits. This is because athletes were
breaking an unseemly number of world records because of the reduced drag and
extra buoyancy the suits gave them (Haake, 2012). As we can see, Sports
engineering and technology have an important role to play in sport. New
technologies can keep a sport alive and relevant, but overuse can cause a sport
to lose credibility as in the case of swimming. Hence, respective ruling bodies
of sport have to step up to decide if a technology can be accepted in the sport.
They will also need to keep an eye on current and future technologies and
acquire the skills to understand the implications.
Next, we will move on to human enhancement with
drugs where most ruling bodies of sports have already decided that it is
illegal. The usage of performance enhancing drugs or doping, is widely regarded
as unethical. This is because athletes who do so are engaging in behaviour that
could harm their health. Once an athlete increases his or her performance
through doping, other athletes feel compelled to do the same. This then becomes
a risky behaviour for all parties involved (Horton, n,d.). Hence if doping
becomes prevalent, sports will be changed forever. One such example would be
the Lance Armstrong doping incident where he is stripped of his seven Tour de
France titles and banned for life from cycling. Although some were still sympathetic
towards him, the vast majority of the public were disillusioned as they felt
cheated by his feats (“Some Livestrong
Donors”, 2012).
3.2 Socioeconomic impact
The use of technology in sports will bring about
socioeconomic implications on society. Firstly, sports equipment that makes use
of the latest technology will not come cheap. Hence, it will only be affordable
to the elite and rich athletes. Without any sponsors, poor athletes will then
be unable to afford them. Consequently, they are at a disadvantage at the
technology front. This can lead to a vicious cycle where only the rich will
have access to these technologies. The poorer athletes will then be unable to
compete on equal footing with the richer athletes regardless of their aptitude
for the sport. If not monitored properly, this could lead to a divide between
the haves and the have-nots. Athletes from richer backgrounds or more affluent
countries will dominate the top of the charts for their respective sports while
athletes from poorer backgrounds will find it increasingly difficult to break
into the professional scene. As a result, poorer athletes will have an even
slimmer chance of freeing themselves from the poverty cycle.
Many sports rules committees want to prevent this
from happening so as to let all athletes compete on a more equal footing.
Hence, they feel that a reasonable compromise is to keep their sport affordable
to many athletes, rather than to the elite few. An example would be disc wheels
which were initially banned from bicycling competition in the Olympics because
they were so expensive that most cyclists found them unaffordable (Froes,
1997). Even for the Paralympics, there is the issue of advanced technology and
high costs. These wheelchairs incorporate the use of aerospace carbon fibres
and titanium into their design. Its suspension is also computer designed and
specially customised for the athlete. In addition, there is a specific chair
for each sport. Tennis wheelchairs are built with sharply angled back wheels so
the athlete can move rapidly for side to side. Basketball wheelchairs have
highly propped seats while the point guard have more slant in their wheelchairs
to enable them to turn quickly. The price of each of these wheelchairs will
easily hit $3000 USD(Froes, 1997). Therefore, sport committees have to keep an
eye on the price of these equipment to ensure that it does not become too
unaffordable for the common athlete.
4
Conclusion
In summary, technology has always been used in
sports. However, it is only recently that this issue has come into the
spotlight. Currently, there have been significant improvements in the
sophistication of technology that is being applied to sports. Thus, we have to
handle the implications that these new technological advancements bring. On one
hand, although they can assist athletes in breaking records and to improve
their performances, we must be firm to not let technology overtake our human
touch. After all, what we want to see is not technology, but rather humans
competing against one another in the sporting arena.
5
References
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Materials, 11(8), 655-658. doi:10.1038/nmat3382
Froes, F.
H. (1997). Is the Use of Advanced Materials in Sports Equipment Unethical? JOM 49 (2), 15-19
Haake,
S. (2012). SPORTS ENGINEERING. New Scientist, 215(2872), i-8.
Kessler, M. (2011). Only Nazi Games?
Berlin 1936: The Olympic Games between Sports and Politics. Socialism &
Democracy, 25(2), 125-143. doi:10.1080/08854300.2011.579476
McDowall,
M. (Director). (2011). Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit [Motion picture].
USA: Plum Picures.
Ofoghi,
B., Zeleznikow, J., MacMahon, C., & Raab, M. (2013). Data Mining in Elite
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