Unlike cycling, athletes don’t pay as much attention to aerodynamics and take to the track with their hair down and sometimes wearing flowing outfits. A scientific study on women’s long jump shows that these decisions have a real impact on performance.
These are images that shock cycling fans and followers of the Tour de France, where every detail, from the shape of the helmet to the height of the socks, is checked for aerodynamics: Since the beginning of the Olympic athletics competitions, sprinters have traditionally appeared with exuberant hairstyles and jewelry around their necks or wrists.
In an article we published in 2022, Emmanuel Brunet, research and performance manager at the French Cycling Federation, explained: “In cycling, sailing and speed skating, it is crucial. In athletics, an ill-fitting outfit, round jewelry or hair caught in the airflow can cost a few hundredths.” A few hundredths or a few centimeters, but how much exactly?
Up to 10 centimetres difference in long jump
Dutch aerodynamicist Bert Blocken has set out to answer this question. He has been involved in wind tunnel research with cyclists for many years and this time he led a study on the influence of hairstyle and clothing in athletics, more specifically in the women’s long jump. The results were published online on July 26, the day of the Olympic opening ceremony: hairstyles can increase an athlete’s air resistance by 8.7%. Clothing can vary air resistance by 27.9%. In concrete terms, this could amount to 10 centimeters in the long jump.
The researchers focused on the long jump because flight time is an important performance factor and accounts for 90% of the total distance of the jump. In the air, only gravity and aerodynamic forces affect the athlete’s body, the study highlights. Visually, the researchers were struck by the variety of hairstyles: from tightly tied hair to dreadlocks and loose curly hair. They also wrote that they were surprised by the clothing styles: the outfits were more or less tight to the body, sometimes fluttered in the wind, and the bib numbers were often attached with pins.
Full body suits for all sprinters?
The results confirmed the assumption: long, loose, curly hair increases air resistance by 8.7% compared to an athlete with a shaved head. Even hair tied in a bun behind the head has an influence: +2.3% for air resistance. The choice of clothing, especially shorts, has an even greater influence: 27.9% difference in air resistance between tight shorts and very loose shorts. According to the study, these differences mainly affect the jumpers’ take-off speed. And the results should be of interest to all sprinters.
The conclusion of the study is clear: athletes can only win if they wear outfits tested in the wind tunnel and switch to full-body suits that cover the head in particular.”
Athletes who make this choice can gain significant advantages over their opponents,” the researchers conclude. This cultural revolution could take years, if not decades, say the authors of the study, who emphasize the “rather conservative nature of the athletics disciplines.” However, they point out that an athlete like Cathy Freeman had already seen through this in 2000, when she won the 400 m at the Sydney Olympics in an explosive full-body suit.
(The Team)
