Academics help athletes in the quest for gold

If anyone is likely to have divided loyalties at the London Olympics, it is Dr Aki Salo. While in his heart he’ll be rooting for his native Finland, his attention will be firmly fixed on the performance of Britain’s sprinters.

Salo and his team at the University of Bath have been investigating the way sprinters leave the starting blocks, using mathematical modelling to hone an athlete’s technique and improve performance.

He films athletes on the track and analyses their movements using specialist software, eliminating the traditional trial-and-error approach by athletics coaches. His research also focuses on sprinting on bends and he has worked with 4x100-metre relay teams on the efficiency of baton exchanges.

This has put him very much in demand by UK Athletics, resulting in invitations over the past decade to competition training camps. Earlier this month he flew out to Portugal to advise and support British athletes in preparation for the London Games.

Salo’s background in sport is an advantage. In Finland he competed as a sprinter and coached athletics, all of which helps him apply his research to the running track. “Because I have a coaching background, I understand their world and can talk to coaches in their language, even about scientific issues,” he says.

Research improving sporting performance

Salo exemplifies the increasing success of UK universities in applying research to improving performance in sport.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “It is sometimes easy to forget when you watch an athlete or team compete just how much preparation has gone into their performance.

“This isn’t simply a question of training schedules and practice. These days, cutting-edge university research is used to support every aspect of Olympic sports – from nutrition and health to equipment, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and of course performance.”

Another academic contributing to athletes’ potential Olympic success is Bryce Dyer, senior lecturer in product design at Bournemouth University. He has helped to create a prosthetic limb for Irish cyclist Colin Lynch, designed to give him a competitive edge while also keeping within strict design rules and regulations.

The prosthesis has already shaved precious seconds off the cyclist’s personal best, and he is now looking forward to putting it to the test in the London Paralympics.

“The limb is shaped differently,” said Dyer. “It uses a different method of manufacture and it’s very very aerodynamic compared to a conventional prosthesis. He relies on a combination of speed and power and aerodynamic efficiency, and it was just to try and give him something that would ultimately help and not hinder him in races.”

Meanwhile, since 2000 researchers at Imperial College London have been working in the lab with the British rowing team to help them improve performance and reduce injury.

Using sensors to measure how the body moves and the forces exerted by the athletes while they’re rowing, the information gained allows researchers, coaches and physiotherapists to improve the athletes’ rowing technique.

Now Professors Alison McGregor and Anthony Bull from Imperial have been helping the British rowers prepare for London 2012. Their research varies from ways to predict lower back pain in athletes, to jaw disorders caused by too much gritting of the teeth while training.

It’s not just the physical performance of elite athletes that interests academics, but also their mental well-being.

At Swansea University researchers have been working with British Gymnastics to examine the susceptibility of gymnasts to eating disorders. Ultimately the research aims to contribute to policies promoting the mental health of elite athletes.

Benefits beyond the Olympics?

Glenn Hunter of UK Sport’s research and innovation team, and head of its performance medicine research programme, says Britain’s universities rank highly internationally in the race to improve elite athletes’ performance.

“The standard is extremely high in the UK and world renowned in many areas,” he said. “The challenge is making that work to the specific performance question, and also that a lot of research done in the general population doesn’t translate that well to an athlete.”

Gaining funding for such specialist research is an issue. “There’s funding available for science and knowledge development, but not that much for the applied work that we would like to do,” he said.

“We have a very clear performance agenda. For us it’s about winning a medal and improving performance. The academic agenda is about contributing new knowledge and disseminating that knowledge. There’s a link there, but it’s not necessarily explicit.”

The legacy of the London 2012 Games has been a subject of much debate. Will the behind-the-scenes work of UK academics have its own legacy, resulting in breakthrough applications with wider benefits?

“We would hope so,” says Hunter. “The specific effects might not be the same, so while you and I might not withstand the training programme for elite athletes, the principles underpinning that could translate into everyday life.”