Olympic technical sportswear revealed

Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 04:55:12 PM

The American uniforms for the London Olympics 2012 are being revealed bit by bit in New York, the athletics wear is manufactured from recycled plastic drinks bottles and, whilst that may sound like a tree-hugging, low-tech approach, it’s actually resulted in some of the most advanced high performance sportswear around.

Nike has created a tracksuit called the Pro TurboSpeed which is considered to be .023 seconds faster in a hundred metre sprint than the previous technical clothing created by the company. Of course, such measurements are made in controlled conditions using a propelled dummy in a wind tunnel, so they don’t allow for the vagaries of terrain and temperature or the height, weight, build or on-the-day psychological and physiological condition of the athlete, but given those constraints on performance, it’s still a substantial improvement in sports clothing development.

Given the debate over, and eventual banning of, the swimsuits worn in Beijing, Nike has been careful to ensure that their new sportswear follows all the rules and guidelines of the International Association of Athletics Federations, to guarantee it’s an approved garment.

The running suits, which come as either an all-in-one, or a vest top and skin-tight shorts, are constructed of 82% recycled polyester textile, rendered from thirteen discarded bottles. The looser, and bulkier, basketball uniforms, modelled at the launch yesterday, re-utilise 22 drinks bottles and are a massive 41% more lightweight that the basketball kits worn at Beijing in 2008.

Nike also revealed marathon specific running shoes that are knitted rather than woven, reducing shoe weight and increasing transpiration so runners’ feet become less hot and less prone to blisters.

Clare Hansen

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