Scientific approach to improving sports performance

07 April 2008

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is bringing its European lecture road show into the French capital on Thursday 10 April as part of an initiative to explain the influence which science has over top sports performances.

The lecture will take place at Hotel Mercure Montmartre and will be given by Dr David James who is a senior scientist in the world leading research centre based at Sheffield Hallam University. He will be explaining the secret of going faster, whether it is on a bicycle or a bobsled – the difference between gold and silver.

Dr James said, “At the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics the medals winners were separated on average by three tenths of a second after two runs. How do athletes find their extra speed? Not by accident! It’s all a question of science. We are exploring the absolute limits of human athletic performance and how the latest technology can make humans run faster, jump higher and be stronger.”

Individual sports have developed over the last thousands of years with only current manufacturing capabilities, the laws of physics and imagination as the limiting factors. The development of professional sport as a spectator sport has necessitated laws to be developed for each sport to ensure that everyone plays by the same rules.

The IET European Executive, said, “We feel we have created a unique series of lectures which will bring the science of engineering alive and reference it to everyday life. Understanding the link between scientific research and a world record is sometimes not that obvious. However, in our technological world, there are plenty of opportunities to use science and engineering to enhance performance either of athletes, products or, more commonly, the two together.”

Mary Donovan
Media & PR Officer
T: +44 1438 765587
E:   mdonovan@theiet.org