A lot goes into making an Olympic athlete. Extraordinary skill and determination go a long way in fulfilling gold-medal dreams, but there is more to winning than hard work. Olympic athletes have their own teams of technological experts that help them get to the top of their sport.

For years, NRC has been improving athletic performance behind the scenes in its laboratories and wind tunnels. From bobsledding to speed skating, scientists know that success often depends as much on aerodynamics as on skill. For hockey players, it might be more about their stick than their stick-handling!

NRC's wind tunnel helps athletes test the aerodynamics of their body positioning.

Famous faces in NRC's wind tunnels

Researchers at the NRC Institute for Aerospace Research in Ottawa study the effects of wind not only on vehicles and bridges, but also on athletes and their equipment, clothing and positioning. These researchers help athletes use the wind tunnel to check the aerodynamics of their body position, such as how rounded their shoulders are, or if their legs are held tightly together. 

In the 1970s and 80s, Ken Read, Steve Podborski, Rob Boyd and other Canadian downhill skiers – known as the Crazy Canucks for their wild antics on the ski hill – polished up their aerodynamic skills in the NRC wind tunnels. Speed skaters Catriona LeMay Doan and Jeremy Wotherspoon tested the aerodynamic qualities of different suits in the NRC wind tunnel. Catriona later won a gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

After testing six different suits in NRC's wind tunnel, speed skater Catriona LeMay Doan won a gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

Most recently, members of Canada's national skeleton team, including gold, silver and bronze medalists used the wind tunnels to assess the aerodynamics of their sleds, suits and body positioning. In the wind tunnel, the athletes could feel like they were moving at 125 kilometres an hour and experiment with body position without worrying about falling off their sled.

Equipment and outfits

It's not only in the wind tunnels that science and technology help Canadian athletes. A lot of innovation goes into the equipment they wear and use while competing.

Before the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, a team of scientists at the NRC Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute used lasers on bobsled runners to improve their durability and speed. NRC also designed the Olympic torch for the 1988 winter games in Calgary.

A Canadian skeleton team member slides into NRC's wind tunnel.

A stronger hockey stick

A team of researchers at the NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences is currently using the cutting-edge science of nanotechnology to make better hockey sticks with carbon nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes are tiny hollow cylinders made entirely of the element carbon. They get their name from the fact that their diameters are about one nanometre across; one million times smaller than a millimetre. It is almost impossible to imagine things this small. To put it in perspective, if one of these nanotubes were as round as a piece of ordinary dental floss, the person using it would be about 1,500 km tall with teeth the size of Mt. Everest!

Despite their size, carbon nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel and only one sixth of the weight. Adding carbon nanotubes to the composites used in today's hockey sticks can dramatically improve their durability, meaning lighter, tougher, and more flexible sticks that won't break at that crucial moment in the game.

NRC designed the Olympic torch for the 1988 winter games in Calgary.

Unfortunately, the current market price of nanotubes is more than 20 times that of gold. Only tiny amounts of carbon nanotubes are needed to see significant improvements in sporting good performance, making the benefits outweigh the extra cost. More widespread use of nanotubes in other areas will not come until the cost can be reduced substantially.

That is why NRC scientists are working to develop more cost-effective ways to produce carbon nanotubes and incorporate them into composites. Soon hockey players, golfers, cyclists, tennis players, and athletes in other sports will begin to experience the benefits of carbon nanotubes.

Through efforts like these, NRC is helping Canada's athletes become stronger competitors that look, feel and perform better on the international stage.