Sunday was the Males’s 100m remaining on the Paris Olympic Video games and it was selected the shoulder dip to the road with 0.005s separating first and second. Instantly after the race, I acquired about 50 messages asking if aerodynamics may have performed a task within the end result of the race. Having been adjacently concerned with some working tasks through the years, I already thought the reply was in all probability sure.
The Girls’s 100m remaining was gained by a great margin so there was much less discuss concerning the distinction aerodynamics may have made, even when some athletes may have made higher gear decisions.
It’s intuitive to the common biking, snowboarding, speedskating or swimming fan that aerodynamics (or hydrodynamics) is an important a part of efficiency. We are able to all take a look at photos of racing within the early 2000’s and query “how a lot quicker would they’ve been in the event that they weren’t all carrying these loose-fitting jerseys?”. Why, then, do runners proceed to put on unfastened vest tops and never tie their hair up?
The reply is that they only don’t suppose it makes that a lot of a distinction. On this article, I’m going to discover what distinction it really makes and what might be finished beneath the present guidelines to realize quicker instances (Spoiler: It’s rather a lot).
Biking Spy is a sports activities aerodynamicist with an Aerospace diploma. They’ve hundreds of hours of testing beneath their belt, and have labored with among the largest riders in biking to optimise. Their Instagram web page is an aero-nerds paradise of tech spots and evaluation.
How a lot aero is there in working?
Firstly, lets quantify what the affect of aerodynamics has on working instances. In biking, it’s usually talked about that at 40kph, 80% of the resistance confronted by a rider comes from aerodynamic drag however in working we all know that is a lot much less. Schickhofer and Hanson* present in 2021 that 8.5% of an athlete’s vitality goes into overcoming aerodynamic drag at 36kph. Some extrapolation of the outcomes reveals that at 43kph (high velocity seen within the Males’s 100m), this will increase to 10%.
The explanation that this contribution is way smaller than biking at basically the identical velocity is due to the physics of the working movement. The athlete has to lift their centre of mass with every stride and this takes up many of the vitality of working. Nevertheless, if we are able to scale back the drag of the athlete then there may be nonetheless loads of efficiency to be discovered.
So how a lot is it value?
Analysis finished within the 1980’s** exhibiting the impact that aerodynamics can have on race instances. The researchers calculated that within the 100m sprint, there was a 0.01s discount in end time to be gained from a 2% discount in aerodynamic drag. The Males’s 100m race in Paris was determined by half that so can we are saying {that a} 1% change in aerodynamic drag may have modified the consequence? Based mostly on the prevailing analysis, I feel we are able to.
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The identical analysis additionally discovered that the two% drag discount would give a 5.7s enchancment in marathon time, with the opposite occasions someplace between.
Evaluating to another outcomes and a few of my earlier work in marathon working signifies that that is nonetheless an correct quantity.
What might be finished to scale back drag to enhance instances?
Now we get to the enjoyable half.
5.1. “In all occasions, athletes should put on clothes which is clear, and designed and worn in order to not be objectionable. The clothes should be product of a cloth which is non-transparent even when moist. Athletes should not put on clothes which may impede the view of the Judges.”
That’s the one rule in Athletics that governs the clothes supplies that can be utilized and the place they are often positioned (aside from the title/quantity bibs on the entrance/rear of the athlete). When mixed with the outcomes seen earlier, it’s clear to me that the athletes are leaving loads of time on the desk.
Simply earlier than the Paris Olympics began, Bert Blocken launched a examine*** trying on the variations in drag between completely different hairstyles and clothes decisions within the girls’s lengthy bounce. From the worst to finest coiffure and clothes selection, unfastened to tight shorts and vests and unfastened curly hair to a swim cap/bald head, the researches discovered a 36.6% drag discount. Making use of this to the time saving calculation offers a possible saving of 0.183s over the 100m race!
Nevertheless, many of the athletes have been carrying tight becoming shorts and fairly tight working vests, which means that the financial savings obtainable to the athletes within the finals we noticed can be a lot much less. Wanting into the outcomes extra carefully; there was an 18.2% distinction in unfastened becoming vs tight shorts, lowering our potential drag and time financial savings to 18.4% and 0.092s based mostly on the analysis. The analysis was additionally carried out on a feminine model and the impact of shifting legs wasn’t captured. We’re additionally uncertain if the identical drag reductions would apply to the male athletes however that is the perfect and most up-to-date knowledge we’ve got so we must go along with it for now.
An fascinating consequence from Blocken’s analysis is {that a} 4.4% drag discount might be discovered by utilizing a good becoming vest vs a unfastened becoming one. Based mostly on the analysis from the 80’s, this may give a time saving of 0.022s over the 100m. The Males’s remaining was gained by 0.005s and second place was utilizing a loose-fitting vest. Even when the financial savings don’t totally translate from a stationary feminine model to a male runner, it’s important to query if that made the distinction. The identical caveats that apply to biking applies to each sport in that aerodynamics could be very particular person so with out testing on Kishane Thompson, we gained’t know if the unfastened vest was a deciding issue within the end result of that race.
What the analysis didn’t embrace was completely different cloth texture and placement. To me that is the place there are enormous prospects. I’ve seen that in opposition to naked legs, the perfect calf guards in biking/triathlon can degrease drag by as much as 10%. Then by utilizing a full skinsuit with lengthy sleeves and shorts that stretch so far as attainable, it’s possible that one other 10% saving might be achieved. We’ve seen larger financial savings in different sports activities from skinsuit use and cloth choice and runners current way more frontal space so I might anticipate that extra financial savings are attainable however can be conservative with the estimation and hold it at 10%. After all, working is in a distinct place than biking however these are conservative estimates based mostly on testing I’ve seen first-hand.
There hasn’t been any analysis (that I can discover) on the aerodynamics of sneakers. That is regardless of the foot travelling at almost twice the common shifting velocity of the athlete (Clark et al.****). For the 100m race, this provides a peak foot velocity of over 80kph. Understanding the drag and elevate traits of the shoe may present vital financial savings as drag will increase to the sq. of velocity and the foot is travelling so shortly within the working stride. I can’t put a quantity to this as I’ve by no means examined it however a great mannequin may give a great perception into what’s attainable right here (masters thesis concept, anybody?).
I don’t suppose it’s unreasonable to suppose that utilizing tight becoming clothes and creating new clothes and shoe options utilizing materials acceptable to the aerodynamic calls for of the races {that a} 30% drag discount may very well be attainable. Within the 100m sprint, this might give time financial savings as much as 0.15s. This doesn’t simply make the distinction within the race end result however may convey the dash world data again into attain. The identical strategies might be utilized to all the working with related outcomes. The Ineos 1:59 Problem confirmed that aerodynamics nonetheless makes a distinction (even a small one) at decrease speeds.
To some this would possibly appear to be an unrealistically giant quantity to say however to them I might say take a look at the place biking has come from. From loose-fitting jerseys and no helmets to the place we at the moment are, we’ve got seen an enormous discount within the aerodynamic drag and efficiency of the riders. In athletics, aerodynamically talking, the simple wins are nonetheless available.
I don’t need this text to return throughout as if I’m saying biking is a greater sport than working. For years, biking was the worst offender at ignoring sport science and was lagging a long time behind the likes of Swimming, Snowboarding and Speedskating particularly.
We’ve got to keep in mind that athletics hasn’t began the journey of taking aerodynamics severely but, regardless of makes an attempt from Cathy Freeman and Nike, with the Swift Go well with again in Sydney. That’s not with out good purpose, it makes a lot much less of a distinction than all of the aforementioned sports activities. However with instances stagnating in contrast with the likes of Swimming, Biking, and Speedskating, I feel it’s time they begin on it.
References
* Schickhofer and Hanson , 2021 Aerodynamic results and efficiency enhancements of working in drafting formations
** C.R. Kyle, V.J. Caiozzo, 1986 The impact of athletic clothes aerodynamics upon working velocity
***Bert Blocken et al. 2024 Numerical-physical modelling of the lengthy bounce flight of feminine athletes: Affect of bounce fashion, coiffure and clothes
****Clark et al. 2023 Horizontal Foot Pace Throughout Submaximal and Maximal Working
