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The Gizmo Games

Sport: Olympics

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

12/10/2010

BBC Radio 4 - The Gizmo Games

Chris Ledgard looks at how sports science has redefined Olympic success for Team GB.

Chris Ledgard discovers the gadgetry underpinning Team GB's Olympic preparations, talking to scientists and athletes to reveal the science behind sporting success.

In sport, the technological race is on and British sports scientists are at the top of their game. Chris Ledgard heads to the laboratory to find out about the gadgetry behind our Olympic sports preparations and examines the ethical dilemmas that 21st century competition creates. It's a fascinating world of intelligence, espionage, fluid dynamics, radar tracking technology, wireless body sensors, and missile identification lasers. London 2012 will, more than ever, be the Gizmo Games.

Because of the stakes it's also a secret and protected world. Team GB don't want the Americans, the Australians or the Germans finding out what space age material our bicycles are made of or the revolutionary style of sled our Skeleton team are training with. They can't know know how we've developed a wireless body sensor to perfect running style, rowing posture and tumble-turn perfection. These developments in sports technology make the difference between a place on the podium or sporting oblivion. Britain, purportedly, has the finest team in the laboratories and a budget of £1.5 million per year to play with.

Presenter and journalist Chris Ledgard, himself a competitive distance runner, visits the laboratories of Imperial College London, Southampton University and BAE Systems. He visits to the Bob Skeleton practice track at Bath University to talk to coach Andreas Schmidt and Olympic gold medalist Amy Williams to reveal the science behind her sporting success and looks at the ethical implications for today's athletes compared to the technology and competition of 50 years ago. Can an unsuccessful sportsman now blame his tools? 

Producer: Ali Serle.

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