Blog
Winning in the margins: the difference between qualifying or not for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
UniSC News, Vol.23 July 2024
University of the Sunshine Coast
2024
Abstract
It was a signature moment in Olympics history – American swimmer Michael Phelps struck gold in the 100m butterfly at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, beating Serbian, Milorad Cavic by just 0.01 of a second.
Phelps tapped into his sporting brilliance as well as a much-hyped, high-tech Speedo swimsuit – or super suit. His thrilling photo-finish was also no doubt powered by a team of sport scientists.
One field of sport science is sport biomechanics, a branch of applied mathematics, which uses our knowledge in physics to study human movement and help athletes enhance their technique, and push boundaries.
Winning gold at the Olympics can come down to chasing millimetres or milliseconds, and biomechanics helps athletes shave off those last few millimetres or milliseconds to take the winning podium.
Details
- Title
- Winning in the margins: the difference between qualifying or not for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Authors
- Mark Sayers - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
- Publication details
- UniSC News, Vol.23 July 2024
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2024
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - High Performance Sport; School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991095344702621
- Output Type
- Blog
Metrics
27 Record Views