Top athletes from around the world will gather this February in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the Winter Olympics. Tune in, and you’ll see skaters, skiers, snowboarders, hockey players, bobsledders, and more.

You probably won’t see any scientists. But don’t let that fool you. Science plays a key part in just about every sport. Take gravity, for instance. Figure skaters fight gravity each time they leap in the air, while bobsledders count on it to draw them downhill fast. And knowing some biology can help Olympians train and care for their bodies.

In fact, you just might think of the games as one of the best science shows on TV!

THE INVISIBLE OPPONENT

Olympic athletes compete against one another. Everyone sees that. What you don’t see is that each Olympian also fights against air. Every time a human being moves, he or she has to push millions of air molecules out of the way. That effort slows the person down ever so slightly. Scientists call this drag.

Most of us seldom notice drag. (You might feel it when riding your bike into the wind.) But Olympic athletes do. For them, even a fraction of a second can mean the difference between gold and silver. So Olympians and their coaches study aerodynamics, the science of how air moves.

Understanding aerodynamics is especially important in one of the most dramatic sports of all—ski jumping.

WHAT A DRAG!

Adam Malysz (MAH lish) wants an Olympic medal. He just might get one. The Polish ski jumper won five world contests recently. Experts think he may take the gold medal in Salt Lake City. To do so, he has to leap into some serious aerodynamics.

Here’s what Malysz will do. He’ll take his place at the top of a giant, snow-covered slide. Before his turn to go, Malysz will coat the bottom of his skis with wax. The wax lessens the friction, or rubbing, between ski and snow. Reducing friction helps ski jumpers go faster.

When the time comes, Malysz will head downhill. Physical forces will both help and hinder him. Gravity will pull him toward the bottom of the slide, helping him move faster. But drag will slow him down. To fight drag, Malysz will crouch down. He’ll bend low at the knees and waist, and he’ll place his arms behind him.

This position will make Malysz’s body seem smaller. That means he won’t have to push as much air out of his way. Less drag means more speed. Malysz may go more than 60 miles an hour!

AIR FORCES

At the bottom of the slide, Malysz will jump into the air. He’ll need to angle his body and skis just right. If he succeeds, he’ll benefit from a key part of aerodynamics—lift. That’s a force that helps ski jumpers stay in the air.

Lift is very complicated, and scientists are still sorting out the details. The key point is that Malysz’s position will affect the way air flows around him. To understand how those airflow changes can help a ski jumper, we turn to two famous scientists—Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli (burr NEW lee).

Newton figured out many important scientific laws. One of those laws says that any action causes an equal and opposite reaction. Well, Malysz’s body and skis will push some air down. That’s an action. In reaction, the air will actually push Malysz up.

Bernoulli discovered that air pressure drops as air moves faster. Malysz knows that. So he’ll stay in a position that forces the air above him to speed up. That means the slower air beneath Malysz will have more pressure. As a result, it will press up—giving the ski jumper a lift.

"V" IS FOR VICTORY

As Malysz soars through the air, he’ll hold his skis in a V-shape. This tactic shows the importance of sports science.

Until 1985, ski jumpers kept their skis parallel, like railroad tracks. That year, Swedish athlete Jan Boklov pioneered the V-shape, which he found more comfortable. Spectators laughed, and judges gave Boklov low scores for style. But other ski jumpers paid attention.

They noticed that Boklov’s funny-looking position was helping him jump farther than anyone else. Some coaches teamed up with scientists to learn more about the V-shape. The scientists brought ski jumpers to a wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is just what it sounds like. Huge fans blast air through a long structure. This allows scientists to see how wind affects planes—and ski jumpers.

The scientists attached wires to the ski jumpers and suspended them from the tunnel roof. With the wind blowing, the jumpers held their skis in different positions. High-tech machines showed how the air moved around the athlete. Scientists discovered that the V-shape gives jumpers much more lift than the old-fashioned approach.

Ski jumpers have used the V-shape ever since. It can help an athlete jump more than a hundred yards, or the length of a football field.

HAPPY ENDING?

Even Adam Malysz can’t "fly" forever. Thanks to the pull of gravity, he’ll return to Earth after several seconds. Then he’ll wait for his score from the judges. Ski jumpers earn points for both distance and style.

If all goes well, Malysz could go home with an Olympic medal. It will honor his strength, his nerve, his skill—and his science.

Text by Kathy Burkett

This article appears on pages 4-8 of our January-February 2002 issue.

LINKS

Salt Lake City 2002
Check out the official website for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Ski Jumping Central
Follow news about the sport and explore a variety of links.

International Ski Federation
Get results from skiing competitions and learn about champion athletes.

QuickFlick: The Olympics
Journey into Olympic history through this playful cartoon.

Game: Sports Talk
Get the Olympic torch to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games! How? Just skate and ski through questions about sporting terms.