Olympic Athletes Bring Cooling Technology to Paris Games
2024-06-13
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1The 2024 Olympic Games open in Paris late next month and experts say especially hot summer weather is likely to return.
2Temperatures set record highs in Europe last summer and France's national weather agency says it expects warmer than normal conditions this year.
3Such weather brings additional difficulty to the already punishing climate of physical competition.
4The Olympic athletes will have to pay more attention to their body temperatures as they train, recover and compete.
5And the buildings in which athletes will stay during the event will not be equipped with air conditioning.
6Craig Heller of Stanford University is an expert in body temperature regulation.
7Heller told the Reuters news agency, "It can be very hot and miserable (in Paris), as it was in Tokyo during the last Olympics...And that increase in environmental temperature has lots of effects on performance."
8Stanford University, in California's Bay Area, is well known for Olympic athletes.
9At least one medalist at every Games since 1912 has been linked with the school.
10Stanford-connected athletes won 26 Olympic medals in the 2020 games in Tokyo and 27 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
11As a result, Heller and other researchers at the school have had the chance to study body temperature regulation.
12And the school's closeness to Silicon Valley helped the tech industry enter the playing field.
13Heller co-invented CoolMitt, a device worn like a glove on the hand.
14The device helps take out heat while cooling the blood.
15The cooled blood is sent back to the heart and to the athlete's muscles.
16It is designed to be used during timeouts in games, in between sets and reps in the gym, or any short break in training or competition.
17"If you take heat out of the core of the body, that prevents heat from building up in the active muscles, and they keep on working," Heller said.
18"So what CoolMitt does is prevents hyperthermia, rise in body temperature to a dangerous level.
19And therefore it enables you to have a higher work volume.
20And if you have a higher work volume, you get a bigger conditioning effect."
21The CoolMitt targets the non-hairy parts of the skin that "contain specialized vascular structures" that ease heat loss, a study says.
22Once inside the glove, the palm rests on a special pad set to 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.
23The pad draws the heat out while cooling the athlete's blood before it reaches the level of vasoconstriction, slowing the blood flow.
24Tyler Friedrich of Stanford University works with athletes there, including some who went to Tokyo and are likely to go to Paris.
25"We know if we are overheating, we will not be performing at the level that we want or that we should be.
26And so regulating heat and regulating core temperature in some instances can be critical" to performance, Friedrich said.
27He said ice baths and cold cloths are often used by athletes but are not necessarily effective.
28A recent study suggested further research was required to prove the efficacy of cold-water immersion practices.
29Friedrich said the CoolMitt had made a difference.
30"They (the athletes) notice themselves feeling like at the end of the game they have as much juice or jump in their legs as they did at the beginning," he said.
31I'm John Russell.
1The 2024 Olympic Games open in Paris late next month and experts say especially hot summer weather is likely to return. Temperatures set record highs in Europe last summer and France's national weather agency says it expects warmer than normal conditions this year. 2Such weather brings additional difficulty to the already punishing climate of physical competition. The Olympic athletes will have to pay more attention to their body temperatures as they train, recover and compete. 3And the buildings in which athletes will stay during the event will not be equipped with air conditioning. 4Craig Heller of Stanford University is an expert in body temperature regulation. Heller told the Reuters news agency, "It can be very hot and miserable (in Paris), as it was in Tokyo during the last Olympics...And that increase in environmental temperature has lots of effects on performance." 5Stanford University, in California's Bay Area, is well known for Olympic athletes. At least one medalist at every Games since 1912 has been linked with the school. 6Stanford-connected athletes won 26 Olympic medals in the 2020 games in Tokyo and 27 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. 7As a result, Heller and other researchers at the school have had the chance to study body temperature regulation. And the school's closeness to Silicon Valley helped the tech industry enter the playing field. 8Blood cooling 9Heller co-invented CoolMitt, a device worn like a glove on the hand. The device helps take out heat while cooling the blood. The cooled blood is sent back to the heart and to the athlete's muscles. 10It is designed to be used during timeouts in games, in between sets and reps in the gym, or any short break in training or competition. 11"If you take heat out of the core of the body, that prevents heat from building up in the active muscles, and they keep on working," Heller said. 12"So what CoolMitt does is prevents hyperthermia, rise in body temperature to a dangerous level. And therefore it enables you to have a higher work volume. And if you have a higher work volume, you get a bigger conditioning effect." 13The CoolMitt targets the non-hairy parts of the skin that "contain specialized vascular structures" that ease heat loss, a study says. 14Once inside the glove, the palm rests on a special pad set to 10 to 12 degrees Celsius. 15The pad draws the heat out while cooling the athlete's blood before it reaches the level of vasoconstriction, slowing the blood flow. 16Tyler Friedrich of Stanford University works with athletes there, including some who went to Tokyo and are likely to go to Paris. 17"We know if we are overheating, we will not be performing at the level that we want or that we should be. And so regulating heat and regulating core temperature in some instances can be critical" to performance, Friedrich said. 18He said ice baths and cold cloths are often used by athletes but are not necessarily effective. 19A recent study suggested further research was required to prove the efficacy of cold-water immersion practices. 20Friedrich said the CoolMitt had made a difference. 21"They (the athletes) notice themselves feeling like at the end of the game they have as much juice or jump in their legs as they did at the beginning," he said. 22I'm John Russell. 23Nathan Frandino reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 24______________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26air conditioning - n. a system used for cooling the air in a building or room 27regulation - n. the act of maintaining temperature 28miserable - adj. causing discomfort 29conditioning - n. the process of training to become physically fit by a routine of exercise and rest 30vascular - adj. of, relating to a channel for the conveyance of a body fluid (such as blood)