JANUARY 15 2009
AMERICANWAY 27
some large percentage of peoplewould rec-
ognize itorknow thedifference, really,”Ma-
chover says with a laugh. “So there’s a real
advantage in just having asmany people as
possible be open-minded and aware and
pushing themselves as far aspossible.”
become active amateurs. And raising the
bar for everyone— from virtuosos to those
who sing in the carwith thewindows rolled
up — is nothing but beneficial. The good
will continue to get better, and the general
populace’s ability to appreciate the good
will improve too.
“Right now, we have a culture where if
there were a Mozart, you’re not sure that
among them, shave seconds off their times.
But he argues that such performance im-
provements are an innate part of athletics
—andalwayshavebeen.
“I thinkbottom line is…athletes areget-
tingbigger, stronger, faster,”Wei says. “That
seems tobeanatural evolution.”
Of course, somewouldquestionwhether
it is “natural.”Wei believes it is, in the sense
that sports technology is using scientific
methods and a better understanding of
the humanbody to improve athlete perfor-
mance and achieve maximum results. He
relates this boost to the revolutionizing of
the high jump in 1968, whenOlympic ath-
leteDickFosbury jumpedoverthebarback-
ward, now a standard technique known as
the Fosbury flop. Because of this improve-
ment, thebarhad to literallybe raised.
One of the big questions that arose in
connection to the 2008 Olympics, how-
ever, wasn’t about bodily adjustments but
concerned the effect of technologically en-
hancedgear, suchas slicknew suitsutilized
by theU.S. swim team. But even that kind
of technology, Wei insists, doesn’t replace
inherent talent.
“If youputoneof those suitsonme, yeah,
Imay go faster, but would I be able to take
on Michael Phelps?” he asks skeptically.
“You really have to be at an elite level to
startwith.”
Wei points out that as athletics have
evolved throughout the ages, so has sports
equipment; itwasonly in recenthistory, for
instance, that men in swim competitions
first donned caps, which improve perfor-
mance by significantly reducing drag. But,
he says, the technologyemerging today isn’t
going to level the playing field between the
AndyRoddicks and theaverageJoes.While
advancements in tennis-racket technology
have enabled top players to serve at triple-
digit speeds—numbers thatwere unheard
ofwithwoodenrackets— thatdoesn’tmean
anyonewhopicks up a racket can achieve a
100-mile-per-hour serve. “You don’t sud-
denly have everybody being elite tennis
playersbecauseof it,”Wei says.
Despite their disparate fields, Wei and
Machoveragree that technology likelywon’t
wipe out talent anytime in the near future.
But it can empower a larger population of
piano players, tennis enthusiasts, and the
like. Machover says that he isn’t helping
peoplebecomeprodigies;he’shelping them
LINdA RodRIguEz
is a freelance journalist who has recently
moved fromBoston to London. She does not play an instrument
but thinks ifmagnetickeyboardshadbeenaroundwhen shewas
a kid, shemight have gottenpast “Heart andSoul.”
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