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Top Secret already yielding results

Own the Podium 2010 program funds game-changing research and technology
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There is one thing that Own The Podium CEO Roger Jackson wants to make clear and that's all of the innovations to come out of the Top Secret program are completely within the international federation-approved rules of each sport.

"Nothing we have done is inappropriate, morally or as a violation of any rules," said Jackson. "In some cases there were restrictions on what we could work on, but in other cases the federation rules allowed and encouraged innovation to a certain degree."

From the start, Top Secret was always about making the incremental improvements to equipment, equipment maintenance, training and competition techniques and other scientific and psychological aspects of sports to give Canadian athletes an edge that in some cases could only translate to milliseconds or fractions of a point. It could be a slightly faster ski or snowboard base, skates tuned to slide fast on the ice, waxes that were developed for the subtleties of our West Coast snowpack or suits and helmets that shed wind more effectively.

Some of the sports science advancements were to equipment. For example, for alpine skiing the University of Calgary developed a GPS system for skiers that could take 20 measurements per second on a race course to allow coaches to analyze where skiers gain speed, where they lose it, what positions and which lines are the fastest. With athletes going in excess of 140 km/h on downhill courses these days the data has been extremely valuable in understanding the sport, says Jackson.

Some advancements were physical. For example, the use of wind tunnels allowed researchers to look at things like body position for alpine skiers in different situations, and to evaluate different prototypes for the speed suits athletes wear in timed events. They created fitness and training routines that targeted specific muscle groups and warm athletes up properly before competitions.

Some advancements were psychological. Researchers looked at things like athlete recovery, the impact of sleep and nutrition and general mental well-being. Every team now has access to sports psychologists that athletes can contact around the clock. Some even come on the road with the athletes themselves.

Another category could be called "environment," as researchers conducted in-depth weather studies at 2010 Olympic outdoor venues to try and anticipate tuning and waxing needs and to prepare athletes for the conditions that are likely at the time of day when events are being held.

"We went well beyond what VANOC needed in terms of weather studies," said Jackson, "while coordinating the ski base studies that we did and waxing research. We want to know what happens to the snow at certain temperatures over a certain length of time, what happens to the ice. We know far more now than we've ever known before, and it's helping coaches, techs and athletes be better prepared on race day."

According to Jackson roughly $8 million of the $110 million allocated to Own The Podium 2010 went towards Top Secret projects. They heard 85 proposals when they started more than five years ago and approved 55 proposals from 17 different research groups in Canada. Most of the projects were based at universities but the National Research Council of Canada also participated and provided invaluable access to their wind tunnel.

Some of the research projects were completely new and out of the box, while others were actually efforts to catch up to other countries that have already benefited from sports science.

"Some of (the projects) didn't work out," said Jackson, looking back at the list. "Some are very promising but (the scientists) didn't have enough time to apply what we learned to the athletes who were locking down their approach as we were getting close to the Games and didn't want to be distracted testing new equipment or techniques.

"But the majority are very promising and have been implemented one way or another. Generally the areas of interest centred around three friction areas: ice, snow and wind, as well as the human performance factor that is so important."

Jackson says there are a lot of potential game changers in the research.

"One part is the various skin suits that the athletes wear and the friction they create, and we're very pleased by the work at the Canadian National Research Council related to clothing," he said. "Particularly for speed skaters, but other athletes in speed events will benefit as well."

While the goal of Own The Podium is to rank first among nations in the Olympic medal count - something that's considered possible after winning more world championship medals last season than any other nation - Canada also has a stated goal of placing in the top three in the Paralympics. To that end Jackson says Own The Podium was more important in a lot of ways.

"A lot of our projects were done out of the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, primarily dealing with alpine and nordic Paralympic equipment," said Jackson. "In Whistler people will see Paralympians using equipment that is more custom-designed for their purposes and much safer than some of the very crude sporting equipment they used to use. This is an area that hasn't had a lot of technology applied to it."

Own the Podium's funding will run out within two months and to date the Government of Canada has only committed $10 million to the program per year in the future. Jackson and others are asking for an additional $22 million per year to ensure that Canada remains a leader in winter sports and improves in summer sports. Without that funding Jackson says the Top Secret program will also die, despite the proven results.

"If we don't get the funding increase we requested from the federal government (Top Secret) will fall off the table, which would be an incredible tragedy," said Jackson. "We've built personal relationships with researchers who are genuinely excited to work with our athletes. There are about 150 researchers at these universities and research organizations that are very keen to continue to contribute and have given us an incredible value for their time," said Jackson. "We have all kinds of ideas how we'd like to go forward with it."

Athletes and national sports organizations are also keen to see Own The Podium fully funded, noticing huge differences in the level of coaching and other forms of support since Own The Podium 2010 was established in 2005.

"It's not just athlete performance," said Jackson. "It's the whole network, the collaboration between different sports, the programming that's been made available, changes to organizations and the way sports work in Canada. In the end the goal is to interest young children in a variety of sports, and when Canadian athletes do well we'll be able to promote sports to more and more Canadians."

Based on results last season, Canada is projected to literally Own the Podium in less than a month. Independent researcher Daniel Johnson, an economics professor who makes accurate medal predictions, predicted Canada would win 27 medals at the 2010 Olympics, more than any other country.

 

Some Top Secret technologies

• Last season the Canadian four-man bobsleigh team unveiled a new sleigh built by aerospace engineers at Bombardier, nicknamed the Whistler Bomber. After several disappointing results the driver announced he would go back to his own sled - although Bombardier has undoubtedly learned from the experience.

• Snowboarders will be using high-tech composite boards that are lighter and can deliver customized stiffness and springiness that are lighter and can deliver customized stiffness and springiness. Snowboard racers will be using a new binding plate.

• Thermal cameras and motion analysis was used in curling to determine optimal foot position, angles of attack, spinning, sweeping and other techniques. They also determined that aggressive sweeping doesn't warm the ice as thought, but creates frost particles that act like ball bearings.

• Speed skaters and cross country skiers have been using a large treadmill at the University of Calgary to train while coaches watched their technique and researchers analyzed body position, heart rate and oxygen intake.

• For speedskating, researchers developed a catapult to launch the skaters so they could practice cornering techniques without needing to build up the speed first. They used it to test suits, new blades, body position and other factors.

• The University of British Columbia has taken the lead in studying base grinding techniques and wax for outdoor events, while a weather expert developed models to help teams plan accurately a full day ahead.