British Athletes Get High-tech Road To Rio

BAE Systems has extended its UK Sport association, with the British multinational technology firm set to continue as its official research partner, supporting Team GB athletes ahead of Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.

An £800k agreement means both summer and winter sports and athletes will have access to cutting-edge technology throughout the build-up to the Games. 

This is the second phase of a partnership which has already benefited more than 20 different Olympic and Paralympic sports and 140 athletes ranging from cycling to skeleton.

The four-year partnership was announced by Shelly Woods, marathon silver medallist at the 2012 summer Paralympics, with the unveiling of a ‘revolutionary’ new racing wheel. The wheel, which is lighter and stronger than previous designs, has the potential to improve Team GB’s wheelchair racers’ acceleration by up to 20%.

Working closely with the English Institute of Sport, the medicine and technology arm of UK Sport, at its research and design centre in Bristol, BAE will investigate scientific innovations to help the athletes with training, recovery, injury prevention and competition.

With Sochi 2014 just over a year away BAE has begun preparations for the athletes, including wind-tunnel technology and expertise for the GB Bobsleigh Team to improve their racing speed; and the development of a simulator for GB Taekwondo athletes which the company hopes will allow the team to learn new skills without risking an injury through repetitive impact.

Woods said of the deal: ‘Paralympic sport is growing year on year in strength and depth, and being able to make use of the best in British engineering, thanks to this partnership between BAE Systems and UK Sport, can help keep British athletes at the forefront of this fiercely competitive environment.’ 

‘Having access to this kind of expertise gives us a huge boost and motivates me to train hard and continue to work on my racing technique every day, safe in the knowledge I have wonderful support around me.’

Simon Howison, the engineering projects director at BAE Systems, added: ‘This partnership will continue to help us demonstrate how engineering can be applied in many different areas and encourage more young people to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths. We’re hugely proud to work with British athletes and help support incremental gains in performance that might make a real difference to the nation’s sporting success.’

Liz Nicholl, the chief executive of UK Sport, commented: ‘The incredible work to come out of the first phase of the partnership is just the beginning, and as we aim to win even more medals in Rio in 2016, we are delighted to be continuing to work closely with BAE Systems in helping our athletes to operate at the cutting-edge of their sport.’