For American skaters, old suits don't help

yahoo ^

[Perdogg]

Maybe it wasn't the suits after all.

After shedding their new, high-tech skinsuits for their old-fashioned gear, American speedskaters still were without a medal at the Sochi Olympics.

Zbigniew Brodka won Poland's first gold medal in the men's 1,500 meters, finishing 0.003 seconds ahead of Koen Verweij of the Netherlands. It was one of the closest 1,500 finishes in Olympic history.

[Perdogg]

Of course it wasn't the suits. Did they actually practice with these suits? My guess they did and they did not discover any problems.

Underarmour Still rules!

[Paladin2]

It's the ice, skates, muscles, cardio-vascular output and nutrition.

I hope they have been training at the appropriate Sochi altitude.

[Paladin2]

Except for some “sciences” (like Globull Warming), science and technology still rule.

[2ndDivisionVet]

[Paladin2]

Is it the tat’s and piercings?

[nascarnation]

Don’t they train in Colo Springs? 6000 ft.

I’ve toured that facility maybe 10 yrs ago.

[grania]

May I vent? The skaters were okay with using NASA technology to boost their performance in order to beat skaters with more talent and drive. The spoiled brat perpetual winners lost to atheletes who did better. So now they want to blame the suits that gave them an unfair advantage? The snow was their problem, as if everyone else didn't have to ski or board on the same snow?

There are a lot of remarkable US atheletes there. But they're the ones that weren't the pre-ordained stars. And you know what? They're doing very well.

It's quite pleasant to see our entitled class brought down to earth. JMHO

[discostu]

The old suits are underarmour too.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I thought they trained here in Milwaukee at the Pettit Ice Center, built especially for Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen.

[Paladin2]

I don't know.

Historically, training at a relatively high altitude is supposed to be a plus for near sea level performance for at least a couple of weeks.

Who knows what the performance differences are for various combinations of training altitude vs performance altitude.

Times at higher altitude for short interval performances should be highly correlated with wind resistance/drag due to air density.

Think baseball hitting range in Denver vs. NYC.

[Paladin2]

A good workman redesigns/rebuilds his tools should they prove to be deficient or when he sees a possible improvement.

It's the American way.

[hosepipe]

Hopefully no one drank the tap water at Sochi....
and you know................ became impotent..

[Hot Tabasco]

The skaters were okay with using NASA technology to boost their performance in order to beat skaters with more talent and drive.

Sorry to destroy your argument but all the other participants were using the same technology in their uniforms since they were provided uninforms from the same manufacturers .......that's just the way it is.

I find it ironic that only the U.S. team is wearing new gear from Under Armor and their performances have been dramatically reduced. If I were one of the athletes, I would definitely demand the IOC allow a change in skate suit..............

[CorporateStepsister]

Complete agreement.

I wonder just how well trained these athletes really are. None of them seem trained to handle adverse conditions and none of them are apparently learning to adapt to such conditions.

[CorporateStepsister]

Maybe they should be required to skate naked.

[the OlLine Rebel]

6000 ft is beyond the highest Sochi alt, and I doubt the arenas are much above sea level.

[TexasFreeper2009]

they should give them participation medals !

how rude! /s

[elkfersupper]

They could maybe consider getting involved in a real sport.

[stars & stripes forever]

The extra weight that slowed down American Olympians was not Underarmour - it was inflated egos from countless meida interviews and endorsements.

[COBOL2Java]

Old suits don't help in bobsleds either...