Faster fibers and stronger springs lift '08 Games

By Catherine Bremer

BEIJING (Reuters) - With as many scientists behind them as coaches, athletes have used everything from radio thermometer pills to space-age fabrics designed to land robots on Mars to reach new heights at the Beijing Games.

Michael Phelps used Speedo's drag-reducing LZR bodysuit to win eight golds in swimming, while Kenenisa Bekele wore feather-light shoes with a cable mesh inspired by suspension bridges to become the first man since 1980 to clinch gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races.

Archers have lighter arrows, canoeists slice through the water with narrower hulls, cyclists have drag-busting skinsuits with pressure points to speed the flow of oxygen to muscles. Even handball teams used new software to spy on rivals' tactics.

Other gadgets that nearly made it to Beijing include bicycles with coolant in their handlebars and energizing "relaxation" shoes that give off a waft of peppermint with every step.

It is a world away from ancient Greece, where a good dousing of olive oil was as sophisticated as Olympic accoutrements got.

"Behind the Olympics there's a whole other race going on," said Matt Brearley, a sports scientist with the Australian team, which in training swallowed pill-sized radio thermometers designed for astronauts to see how their bodies dealt with heat.

"We'll always be seeking a better performance," said Brearley.

Beijing's Water Cube pool, built extra wide and deep to disperse water turbulence, was full of high-tech bodysuits like Speedo's LZR racer and one by Adidas.

Rowers trained with sensors on the tips of their oars.

Outdoor running shoes had embedded stainless steel springs for added bounce or rice husks meshed into their bottoms to absorb water and improve traction. Some used a lightweight cushioning material based on a foam used in space shuttle seats.

Performance-enhancing gear has advanced so fast that some critics say new sporting records should be adjusted to factor it in, just as economic data is tweaked to incorporate inflation.

WHISKER THIN

"You're seeing this in almost every sport, technology giving athletes a little bit of an edge," said Nike's Olympics creative director Sean McDowell, who reckons his shoes may have gained Bekele 1 mm per stride, making a meter for each kilometer run.

Made with NASA's Mars parachute fabric, Bekele's shoes are like a second skin with 68 whisker-thin but stronger-than-steel

embedded cables that grip the foot and stop it shifting inside.