Technology gone mad?

Techno-sport: Shark skins, sprint suits and glass slippers

Marion Jones has taken to wearing clear running shoes, Ian Thorpe dons a "shark skin" body suit in the pool - sport has entered the realm of science fiction in Sydney.

But is it worth all the trouble?

Once upon a time, sprinters just took their chances with plimsols on a cinder track and swimmers made do with a good old-fashioned pair of trunks.

And as recently as the 1980s, Zola Budd preferred to run in bare feet.

These days, though, no self-respecting gold medallist is complete without a technological back-up team pushing the boundaries of athletic endeavour.

But do such scientific aids as sprinting body suits, Z-shaped spikes and aerodynamic cycling helmets help raise the standards of the Olympics, lifting sport to a new level?

Or are they just elaborate gimmics? Is it all just a corporate conspiracy on the part of the leisure industry, as they look for new ways to get us to shell out at the sports shop?

Perhaps you think technology is not in keeping with the spirit of the Olympics, which is supposed to pit man against man in the purest of sporting contests.

Tell us what you think?

I think the use of technology has made winning very difficult for countries/athletes who are unable to afford that technology. A classic example is field hockey where the use of artificial grass, fibreglass hockey sticks, speciality shoes, etc. has pushed poor, but skilled countries like India and Pakistan out of the winners league. The game was once played on natural grass with simple sticks, which enabled poor, tribal people in India to play even at competitive level. Since artificial grass is the norm at international tournaments, it has become difficult for skilled players in poor countries to find such grounds and equipment good enough for international competitions.
Shantanu, India

It's progress! This is the 21st century after all. Athletes still have to train and compete. Change is always hard to accept but technology has allowed furthering the human efforts - if it helps in swimming, why not. Its a different world we live in, so accept it.
Abdul Sam Nayak, Pakistan

Can't you just see this all coming back, full-circle, to the way it was at the ancient Olympic Games? Stripped of all pretense, down to their birthday suits, unabashedly professional athletes competing against each other for all the spoils that society will indulge them with? Devoid of all-revealing clear plastic shoes with z shaped spikes, devoid of all-revealing sprint/swim/you fill in the blank body hugging suits that reveal everything (or the skimpiest bikinis that cover nothing), the athletes of the modern Games are unwittingly emulating their ancient ancestors. It is simply mass entertainment disguised as sport for the masses.
Larry Blaschuk, Canada

In as much as I agree with the fact that technological advancement is essential and has its advantages, I cannot understand how sporting events that are supposed to be fair to all involved have become largely dependent on more than the one participant's ability. Improvements in sporting technology are necessary to increase safety and the standard of sporting achievements. Having said that though the introduction of these technologies should be on the basis that all competitors are subject to the same level technology wise. How can you justify that the man who wins the Olympics 100m is indeed the world's fastest man if he carries with him undue advantage. Henceforth to preserve the spirit of fairness of these Games all technologies be it a fibreglass shoe or an aerodynamic suit must be introduced via the athletics board. Let having the Olympic gold stand for what it really means - that you are the best in the world.
Olugbenga Daini, England

The excessive use of technologically advanced equipment has increased inequality of opportunities between nations in international sports events as a result of financial barriers for participation. Some athletes from certain countries with a lower economy are excluded from competitions, and even if they could participate they would not succeed, because their governments cannot spend much money on the very developed equipment.
Mahfoud Amara, UK

The Olympic ideal was lost many years ago

  Andrew Earl, England

I don't think you can stand in the way of progress. And with kit manufacturers putting so much money into sport through sponsorship, sport cannot afford not to let them develop new products. But it can make sports boring, like tennis, when the new designs push things too far and the unique character of a sport is lost.
Lucy, UK

The Olympic ideal was lost many years ago. There are no amateur champion athletes at the Olympics, they are all sponsored by corporations like Nike, Reebok, Speedo who develop new technologies in running shoes or swimsuits then give the top athletes a sponsorship deal so that he wears the product for several years. This is not the ideals of he Ancient or Modern Olympics. This is pure advertising not sport.
Andrew Earl, England

Surely this is just another area where the developed nations will score over the rest of humanity. Was it not slightly patronising of Speedo to kit Eric the Eel in their sharksuit for publicity photos AFTER his great swim? Where were they before?
Asif, UK

Why do many of us like to live in the past? It is natural for us to be better and believe we can do better. Our athletes are trying their best to do exactly this not only for themselves but also for their country and us at home. Let us admire them! If they use these fancy suites and spikes at least they are not taking the drugs to do it! - There is something to think about
Warren Michael, South Africa

Was it not slightly patronising of Speedo to kit Eric the Eel in their sharksuit for publicity photos AFTER his great swim?

  Asif, UK

New technology in sports really only helps the athletes shave time from world records - the competition is still as close as can be. Take Chris Boardman in the 1992 games as an example. Everyone put his gold down to the lotus superbike, but few people realise that he still wins timetrials when everyone else is on superbikes too!
Chris Waring, UK

It's called progress!!! I suppose the sceptics would still have us kicking a rock around on the football pitch
Ian Boyton, UK

I think it is a problem that all these athletes have to rely on technology to compete at these levels. Whether they take drugs or don fancy clothes; it's a shame.
Roderick Black, Canada

Don't just assume that body suits and new spikes are what make a champion. The true science of sport occurs during training, with computer modelling of optimal body movements, advanced (and hopefully legal) supplements to help athletes perform better and recover faster and personally tailored training that takes into account an athletes genetics to bring out their best in any sport. That is the real science of sport today and why Australia, with a population of only 19 million, is able to challenge nations with much larger population bases.
Borys Pawliw, Australia

If all of these new wonderful devices do really work....then why don't the English use them!

  Neil Hunter, England UK

It's all about progress and if that means using modern science and technology to improve, why not? After all we use it in all other walks of life to better ourselves such as education, business and medicine. However, having powered running shoes maybe taking it too far.
Majid Mater,

What's next? Jet packs for high jumpers!
Neil Hunter, England, UK

Many of the sports are a combination of Man & Machine (e.g. cycling), so the technological race is all part of the excitement. However, all major technological breakthroughs should be made public property (probably after their first use in competition) to avoid giving any competitor a permanent, and therefore unfair, advantage.
Ralph Platten, Britain, but resident in Switzerland

If all of these new wonderful devices do really work....then why don't the English use them!
Neil Hunter, England UK

Look at David Beckham's boots and compare with Stanley Matthews.

  Colin Watkins, UK

Perhaps it is just psychological. If the athlete thinks they will do better with a pair of high tech running spikes then who is to argue that they won't. Just look at old 'Roy of the Rovers' comics with 'Billy's Boots' which were of the Stanley Matthews ilk which Billy couldn't play without!
James Kilner, England

Today's athletes would have beaten previous generations even without the technology. The science extends not just to equipment, but also to nutrition and training. The super-humans we watch today are the pinnacles of human physiology, with or without the apparel. Our hats are off to them. Of course, it doesn't hurt to look cool as well!
Rory Aitken, UK

Technology has always been linked with sport, and as the Sydney games have shown, development of technology as well as training and the all-round professionalism of the athletes have taken sport to a new level. I for one am enjoying the best games yet.
Anthony Green, UK

The fact that in the old days sprinters wore plimsolls and not walking shoes, and that swimmers wore trunks and not trouser says athletes have always used technology of some sort. What we see today is simply a development and progression. Look at David Beckham's boots and compare with Stanley Matthews.
Colin Watkins, UK

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