Core tips：While the Paris Olympic Games have just ended and the Paralympic Games are about to begin, the JEC Composites Magazine is devoting its feature to the impact of materials on the development of sports and the performance of athletes. In many sports, the cor
The most emblematic and best-known example is undoubtedly that of pole-vaulting. In the space of one hundred and fifty years, the pole vault world record has gone from 3.15 m to 6.24 m! We must update this record, which rose to 6.25 meters with Armand Duplantis’ magnificent jump during the Olympics, gold medal and world record! Initially made of wood, the poles were then made with bamboo (record estimated at 4.50 m), then in metal from the 1940s. But aluminium having had little contribution to performance, the transition using glass fibre established itself in the 1960s before gaining in complexity with an association of fibre glass and carbon fibre. Thanks to a remarkable combination of flexibility and excellent energy restitution, the race for the record has been relaunched and the jumping technique itself has evolved to control the pronounced impact of the twisting of the pole when it meets the stopper.
In fact, the anisotropic properties of composite materials work wonders in many sports and allow tailor-made treatment for the disciplines, or even for the athletes themselves.
By switching to a wide angle, this also reminds us that the world of research benefits from working with many sectors, including sport from which it has long kept a reasonable distance, even if things have evolved significantly over the past two decades. Sport is an ideal market for testing innovations, including in very advanced version, even beta, because it is less subject to the yoke of certifications and approvals than other sectors, particularly industrial ones. So many innovations have been born in research laboratories to benefit high-level athletes, then trickle down to amateurs. Serving sporting performance and safety too, tirelessly opening new horizons!
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