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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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JULY 2012
93
Cameras that analyze motion,
like the ones that Clay is working
with, are only part of the equation.
There are sensors that measure
nutrition, hydration, muscle activ-
ity, posture and pressure on joints.
Research at Brown University has
led to a portable device that moni-
tors sleep, an essential element of
the body’s recovery. A mouthguard
deve loped by Under Armour
helps athletes reduce stress and
speed reaction time by preventing
them from clenching their jaw
while competing. A Nike-designed
device that looks like a pair of sun-
glasses blocks the vision of one eye
at a time to sharpen the wearer’s
capacity for judging depth of field.
Apod the size of a fingernail that fits
inside an athlete’s shoe can record
average and maximum speeds,
number of sprints and distance
covered. Irish Olympians are using
vests developed in a Dublin City
University lab dubbed “Clarity”
that measure their breathing, and
patches that detect the level of
sodium in their sweat.
“The immediate deployment of
these kinds of things is at the high
end, where even slightly better
performance means the difference
between competing in the Olym-
pics and not,” says Alan Smeaton,
deputy director of the Dublin City
University lab. “Then they trickle
down into the mass market.”
That Under Armourmouthguard,
for instance, which prevents the
release of a fatigue-causinghormone
known as cortisol, is already on the
market. So is the sleep device, Zeo,
and the shoe sensor, miCoach, from
Adidas. Motion-analysis technology
is also starting to be used in physical
therapy and rehabilitation, and it’s
increasingly popular in the quest for
the elusive perfect golf swing.
But the most dramatic impact of
this flood of new technology will be
on the London 2012 Olympic Games,
according to enthusiastic athletes,
coaches and engineers.
“Compared with the last Olym-
pics, we’re seeing at least twice as
much technology being used, and
in some sports maybe five times
as much,” says Mark Verstegen,
founder of Athletes’ Performance,
a high-end Phoenix-based training
complex that works with some of
the world’s top pro and Olympic
athletes—including, this year, the
Chinese Olympic team. “For the last
10 years you could see some granules
coming together, but it really has
been a cascade to where technol-
ogy is being applied to almost every
LATVIA
20
CHINESE
TAIPEI
(TAIWAN)
19
MONGOLIA
19
UZBEKISTAN
18
GEORGIA
18
ONE TOWATCH
MARIEL
ZAGUNIS
FENCING
The year 1904 was a big one
for the United States. It gained
control of the Panama Canal,
Theodore Roosevelt was
re-elected president and an
American won a gold medal in
fencing at the Olympic Games,
a feat not repeated until Mariel
Zagunis did it.
One hundred years later.
As a last-second alternate.
It should have surprised
no one that Zagunis, now a two-
time gold medalist in individual
sabre and a heavy favorite to
pull off a three-peat at the
London Games, would suc-
ceed at the highest level. The
Beaverton, Ore., native comes
from championship stock (her
parents were Olympic rowers at
the 1976 Montreal Games), and
she also was part of a U.S. team
that captured gold at the Senior
World Champion-
ships when Zagunis
was only 15.
Now with 19
World Cham-
pionship
medals to
hername,
Zagunis
is by far
the most
deco-
rated fencer in
American history,
and will play a
significant role
in determining
whether 2012 is
another big year
for the United States.
Perhaps it’s not
a coincidence
that she talks
quietly and
carries a
big stick.
MEDAL GEAR
From left, Zeo, in app and
hardware form; the Adidas miCoach