[reiseebup]

By Hannah Rand: 17:16 GMT, 13 May 2012

Nike gives U.S. Olympic athletes a turbo speed advantage with high-tech running suit inspired by a golf ball

Members of the American Olympic athletics team will have a technical advantage over their fastest rivals.
Thanks to a high-tech running suit that takes inspiration from a golf ball. Nike - who sponsor the U.S.
team - have unveiled the TurboSpeed suit, which they claim can knock 0.23 seconds off a 100 metre
sprint.



The time may not sound much by your ordinary jogger's standards but when it comes to the fastest
race in the world, every millisecond counts.

Take U.S. sprinter Walter Dix’s time in the 100 meter sprint at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, for example.

The bronze medal winner lost out to world champion Jamaican Usain Bolt by a mere 0.22 seconds. Bolt
is sponsored by Puma, so if Nike’s claims are to be believed, Dix could beat Bolt by simply putting on a
different running suit.

He could certainly overtake silver medalist Richard Thompson, who was just 0.02 seconds faster.

Thompson is a member of the Trinidad and Tobago team, who are sponsored by Adidas.

Nike TurboSpeed's design incorporates golf-ball ‘dimples’, which reduce aerodynamic drag. The kit's
efficiency was tested during hundreds of hours in a wind tunnel over a twelve year period.

And it is eco-friendly too - made from 82 per cent recycled polyester fabric, a material that uses around 13
recycled plastic bottles per outfit.


The suit could work in U.S. champion Walter Dix's favour (left). He lost out to Jamaican Usain Bolt (right) at
the 2008 Beijing Olympics by 0.22 seconds (Bolt is sponsored by Puma)