Chapter 14 - Design and Materials in Athletics

Abstract

Track and field athletics includes running, jumping, throwing, hurdling, and walking events. The last hundred years has seen a strong trend towards better performances, but in most events relatively little of this improvement has been due to innovation in the design of sports equipment or the materials used. The sport of athletics places a strong emphasis on tradition and the historical continuity of record performances and so has been reluctant to approve technological innovations that change the nature of the event or which are aimed solely at improving the athlete’s performance. Even so, there are many notable examples of innovation and this chapter presents examples across the spectrum of events. In particular, we examine how the choice of pole material affects performance in the pole vault, and look at how a fiberglass pole is constructed. We see how innovation in the aerodynamic design of a javelin has affected performance and increased fairness in judging the event. We also look at innovation in equipment design and materials used in running shoes, jumping shoes, running surfaces, timing equipment, starting guns, starting blocks, false start detection equipment, wind gauges, distance measurement equipment, and landing mats.