How science improves the performance of athletes is the theme of the science post during the weekends of these Olympic Games. Many disciplines call on researchers to win more medals. This is particularly the case in France with scientists integrated into the federations. Example with speed climbing. A report by Boris Hallier.
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Today, many researchers are working on Olympic disciplines to help athletes win more medals. Boris Hallier is now interested in speed climbing. Report from the Pôle France in Voiron, near Grenoble.
At first glance, it’s a brand new climbing gym. Just the classics: six lanes, holds, and carabiners for securing yourself. But there is a little extra, a very specific path, rejoices Lionel Reveret, researcher at INRIA, the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology: “This is what we called among ourselves, with the coaches, the ‘research route’ which is this route where there are force sensors behind the holds.”
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For this INRIA researcher, this path is ideal for evaluating the performance of athletes.
“What is needed is to measure the force that is exerted on the grip by the athlete. It’s like a three-dimensional scale. Where the scale will only measure the vertical direction, it is a little more advanced sensors that allow measurement in 3D.”
Lionel Reveret, researcher at INRIAto franceinfo
15 meters to climb with a world record under 5 seconds: “We’re at three meters per second. It’s as if you were running at a good jogging speed, but vertically. And it’s true that with the PerfAnalytics project, we tried to provide additional information to optimize performance.”
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In addition to these force sensors, the room is equipped with cameras. They allow the athlete’s ascent to be reconstructed in 3D. Valuable tools for Léo Imbert, coach at the French climbing center: “Before all these sensors, we had ideas. We imagined what was happening, saying to ourselves that they were far from the wall, that they were pushing in the axis, off-axis, etc. Now, today, the sensors will be able to tell us clearly what was happening, if the sensations, the impressions that we had, were true, or if we were completely wrong.”
“All high-level sports, increasingly seeking performance, are turning to scientific data. Today, it is essentially for the high level that it will be useful to us. But in the long term, we will learn things about climbing that will be useful to everyone.”adds the coach.
And in this sport, the limits are constantly being pushed back; in 12 years, the world records for speed climbing have been broken 10 times.