Artificial intelligence, fancy shoes, and all the other equipment that powers Olympic figure skating

Olympic figure skating more often It’s called “Formula 1 of Ice”. The tracks are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long, and athletes often race on them at speeds approaching 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). Snowboarders – whether in teams of four or two or solo – are often exposed to G-forces of more than 5 g. At the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games, they are using technology that aims to make every stage of the race, from initial pushing to technical driving to final braking, a little more precise than in previous games.

Men’s figure skating made its Olympic debut in Chamonix, France, in 1924; Women’s figure skating was not introduced to the Games until 2002 in Salt Lake City. Women’s figure skating arrives in 2022. While the earliest bobsleds were made of wood, the sport has been synonymous with steel for years, though in recent decades it has been replaced by carbon fibre, which offers greater lightness and strength.

Each new technological development in the sport has come amid constraints necessary to keep athletes safe, such as weight and sled sizes. The two-person sled can have a maximum length of 2.7 meters (about 8.9 feet) and a maximum weight of 390 kg (859.8 pounds), including the crew. The weight of a four-person bobsled cannot exceed 630 kg (1,388.9 lb), including sleds, and its length is 3.8 m (12.47 ft).

The weight limit was a necessary step to equalize race conditions and limit the use of sport specialists who, although not skiers, had in the past proven crucial to the success of their teams during the push phase. This is not a coincidence at all, as this is one of the areas where technology is making the biggest impact on snowboarding.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Germany won 27 medals, 16 of which came in figure skating, snowboarding, and skeleton. German athletes tend to excel at snowboarding because the sport has a long tradition in Germany, but also because the country has long focused on innovation in the sport. For example, automaker BMW is a strategic partner of the German Federation that oversees snowboarding, luge, and skeleton (Bob- und Schlittenverband für Deutschland), and is credited with introducing custom-made studded boots, a crucial tool for skiers’ performance.

The first 30 to 50 meters of an Olympic sled are often crucial in a race, because it is the only time athletes can push the sled to reach maximum acceleration. Two years ago, BMW realized that innovations in bobbers could improve their performance during this crucial period.

Considering the preferences of each team member, BMW has manufactured custom spike panels that can be integrated into any type of shoe. Using 3D printing, the company was able to adapt the hardness and shape of the spikes to suit different shoes and needs. Working this way allowed them to experiment and modify designs quickly. To avoid excessive wear or breakage, the bolts are given greater hardness through plasma nitriding, where nitrogen is ionized in a high-temperature vacuum and diffuses into the steel.

Boots for German skiers.

Courtesy of BMW