Under Armour/Lockheed Suit Blamed For US Skating Performance

Koreantoast writes "The United States' surprisingly poor performance in speedskating, despite strong performances in recent World Cup events, has been blamed in part on an untested speedskating suit. The Mach 39, designed through a joint venture between Under Armour and Lockheed Martin, was supposed to provide Team USA with a high tech advantage, using advanced fluid dynamic models and a dimpled surface to disrupt air flow and improve comfort. Instead, performances have been disastrous thus far, with athletes going as far as modifying their suits at the Olympics to try and reverse their fortunes. The suits have caused enough concerns that U.S. Speedskating is taking the unusual step of seeking special dispensation from International Skating Union to ditch the high tech suits and switch back to their old uniforms. Teams are normally required to keep the same equipment through the entire Games. Insert jokes and comparisons to Lockheed's more famous product, the JSF, here."

Comments

Re:numbers?

[ginoledesma]

Emery Lehman, highest scorer for the US, on the Men's 5000 meter competitions:

Salt Lake City USA (2013-11-17): 6 min 19.86 sec (personal best)
Sochi Olympics 2014 (2014-02-08): 6 min 29.94 sec

His performance at the Sochi Olympics is 19.18 seconds away from the top scorer.

Jonathan Kuck, second after Lehman for the same competition:

Salt Lake City USA (2013-11-17): 6 min 09.73 sec (personal best)
Sochi Olympics 2014 (2014-02-08): 6 min 31.53 sec

Patrick Meek, third in Sochi Olympics 2014, for the same competition:

Salt Lake City USA (2012-01-21): 6 min 23.89 sec (personal best)
Sochi Olympics 2014 (2014-02-08): 6 min 32.94 sec

Only Jonathan Kuck's personal best beats out the top scorer in this competition. I'll defer to wiser minds in determining whether having a suit give you +5-10 second advantage is "fair" in this competition.

Re:Untested?

[QilessQi]

I read TFA, and yes the suits were tested by the manufacturer, but they were only delivered to the team in January where "preliminary adjustments for fit and comfort were made for each athlete... The U.S. team wore the suits in the past month for simulated race conditions, but the Games marked the first time in competition."

These skaters have spent years practicing, and yet they spent just one month in the actual gear they would wear for the competition. And worse, some of them are making last-minute mods:

"Several skaters, including Heather Richardson, ranked No. 1 in the 1,000 meters, sent their suits to an Under Armour seamstress Thursday to have the panel modified with an extra piece of rubber. After the alteration, Ms. Richardson finished seventh—more than a second slower than the winner."

So there's a perfect example of an American racing in untested gear.