When you lose, blame your equipment (may contain olympic spoilers)

[MattTuck]

Link to WSJ Article (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579381002780722432?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702304703804579381002780722432.html)


Do they not test this stuff BEFORE the games?


After heavy gold-medal favorite Shani Davis finished nowhere near the podium on Wednesday, coaches for the U.S. speedskating team pored over data into the small hours of Thursday morning, questioning everything from race strategy to skate blades.

But after an equally disastrous outcome in Thursday's women's 1,000 meters, a suspect has emerged: the high-tech racing suits the team adopted for these Olympics.

According to three people familiar with the U.S. team, these suits—which were designed by apparel sponsor Under Armour and billed before the Games as a major advantage—have a design flaw that may be slowing the skaters down. These people said that vents on back of the suit, designed to allow heat to escape, are allowing air to enter the suit and create drag that keeps the skaters from staying in the "low" position they need to achieve maximum speed. One skater said team members felt they were fighting the suit to maintain correct form.

[oldpotatoe]

Link to WSJ Article (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579381002780722432?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702304703804579381002780722432.html)


Do they not test this stuff BEFORE the games?

Nope, they believed the guys that gave the team $mucho$.......

UA reminds me of SRAM, as compared to Nike/shimano.

[wallymann]

nothing.

[jwad]

That's bad, but not as bad as this guys equipment problem:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/13/ski-pants-fall-down-henrik-harlaut-slopestyle_n_4780311.html

[tiretrax]

Nope, they believed the guys that gave the team $mucho$.......

UA reminds me of SRAM, as compared to Nike/shimano.

Same thought. Nothing like putting out something only tested in wind tunnel, not in race conditions.

[verticaldoug]

US Speed skating only have themselves to blame. They could have used the suits in the Olympic Trials over Christmas and again at World Sprint champs in Nagano mid-January. But US Skate wanted to keep the suits under wraps. Top Secret will give them advantage in the Olympics. Now it has blown up in their face. To make matters worst, since so much of the 'Racing' is mental, let's just tell the rest of teamUSA they will be wearing a parachute for their races.

Under Armour rules in team sports right now. Beyond the vent issue, the sharkskin dimples look pretty rad.

[buddybikes]

Should of done more real life testing, not just wind tunnels

[crownjewelwl]

i heard an npr segment about it before the olympics...they talked about the benefits of the vents!!

oops

[happycampyer]

My favorite quote is the one of the designer of the Dutch suits:

"Speaking at the arena Thursday, Bert van der Tuuk, the designer of the Dutch team's suits, explained that he had tried a similar ventilation panel on the back of a Dutch prototype three years ago, but that it, too, was slowing down skaters by letting in air and creating drag. 'The suit was blowing itself up,' he said."

Apparently, Craft doesn't actually manufacture the Dutch suits, they are just the sponsor. The actual manufacturer is Sportconfex.

[CunegoFan]

And there are those who complain about the UCI "holding back technology" by preventing this sort of Formula 1 clown show...

[ftwelder]

I know a guy who set several world speed records in the automotive field. When talking about these records and his involvement, he like to use the phrase "we made certain assumptions" admitting that much of their success was based on good guesses. Corporations suffer from a lack of humility compared to builders of racing engines. It's good to blow up once in a while.

[wallymann]

ICorporations suffer from a lack of humility compared to builders of racing engines. It's good to blow up once in a while.

ideally avoiding such desireable blow-ups in the world biggest competition, for which your sponsored athletes have spent their lives achieving.

hubris.

[FlashUNC]

Was it the Sydney Olympics with the full body suits for swimmers that left some slower than the field?

But you're right. You'd think there would be some testing. Whether it makes a difference or not, the athletes believe it does. And sometimes that's all the difference.

[rwsaunders]

I heard that UA's speed skating suit chief engineer just posted their resume on monster.com.....

[cachagua]

I have never, EVER lost a race that wasn't the fault of my equipment. At least that's what I tell myself. Don't you?

Okay, there was that one time I forgot to dope beforehand. More importantly, though -- and I'm sorry for injecting my politics into this, but:

The U.S. speedskating team pored over data...

THANK YOU, somebody, somewhere, for not writing "pour"!

[MattTuck]

Latest from this story.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304703804579383010048360726?mod=WS J_hp_RightTopStories&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702304703804579383010048360726.html%3Fmod%3 DWSJ_hp_RightTopStories

SOCHI, Russia—U.S. Speedskating asked Olympic and skating officials late Friday night for the option to switch the new Under Armour suits that some skaters think are causing the team's long-track athletes to underperform at these Games, the organization's executive director Ted Morris said.

The request doesn't guarantee that American skaters will be wearing different suits when competition resumes on Saturday afternoon, should the International Skating Union and the International Olympic Committee sign off.

The team is currently split into two groups: those who want to stick with the current model and those who would revert to a suit they used while racking up victories throughout the fall. The alternate suit is also made by Under Armour.

[tylerbick]

Maybe Pearl Izumi needs to branch out into speed skating?

[jmoore]

These kind of equipment changes happen all the time. The only time we hear about it is when it backfires. There was a downhill skier that put on brand new skis for the last Olympics and lost out on a medal. Golfers switch clubs and balls all the time. Phil Mickelson changed his entire bag before the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup one year and didn't play very well. Lot's a PGA players have won majors, signed giant deals with new club companies and can't score anymore. I'm sure there are plenty that made the same type of switch and played just fine but we'll never know.

Personally I would not put brand new, untested equipment into play in the highest, most important competition of the year. But the pressure on these people must be huge, so it's not surprising they do it. And they are the best athletes in the world in their sports so certainly they feel they can perform with whatever gear they are given.

[benb]

I'm amazed UA could be this clueless.

I'm sure we've all experienced this drag when opening and closing vents and drawstrings on our cycling clothes and any motorcyclist has experienced this.

As soon as you open that vent on the back the air flowing over the back creates a low pressure zone and even with a tight collar on the neck it's going to draw air in and inflate the suit...

This should not have required computer modeling or even a wind tunnel.. just sticking an observant skater in the suit for practice should have allowed them to figure it out.