INFOGRAPHIC: How technology is changing athletics

As people all over the globe prepare for a summer of exciting sports events, those interested in the role technology plays in the sporting world are talking about the latest equipment that the top athletes will be using to train and compete, like the new Nike TurboSpeed suit we wrote about yesterday. However, a new study has revealed some interesting statistics about how advancements in prosthetics could well be closing the cap between disabled and able-bodied athletes, a subject that may not seem as glamourous as Nike’s latest all-in-one suit, but it has huge implications for disabled athletes in the future.

The research, conducted by electrical online retailer Ebuyer (see the infographic below), found that the gap between able bodied and disabled athletes is closing when it comes to athletics. For instance, Oscar Pistorius ran the men’s 100 metres in 2008 in 11.17 secs, compared to Portugal’s Jose Reinaldo Pieira who competed the same distance in 1984 in 12.94 secs. In comparison, the results of able bodied athletes have only improved their times marginally, Carl Lewis achieved a time of 9.99 secs in 1984 for the men’s 100 metres, whilst Usian Bolt ran the same race in Beijing in 9.69 secs. Whether this gap continues to close in the future remains to be seen, but with new prosthetic technologies being produced everyday we can’t imagine it’ll be long before disabled and able bodied athletes can compete together.

Dave Wood from Ebuyer said:

“There have been exciting technological progressions in recent years, we can see a steady improvement in the times that are being achieved as a result of these new innovative advancements. Looking at the results we can see the gap between disability sports closing, and hopefully, in the future, disappearing.”

Related: Nike launches new running suit inspired by… golf balls?!