High-tech olympics.

ELASTIC

GYMNASTICS

Gymnast John Roethlisberger bends his limber body over and under the uneven parallel bars as if he were made of rubber. To make their routines look so effortless, gymnasts like Roethlisberger. practice five to eight hours a day, six days a week.

All that training can put a lot of wear and tear on a gymnast's body. But new equipment may help reduce the strain.

Most gymnastics equipment used to be made of wood, says Ken Cysewski of American Athletics, the company that supplies gymnastics equipment for the Olympic Games. Wood is flexible - it bends slightly as a gymnast pulls his or her weight around it. But many athletes training for this summer's games have been using higher-tech gymnastics equipment. The latest parallel bars, uneven bars, rings, vaulting boards, and horses contain a mixture of wood and fiberglass, flexible glass threads that are stronger than steel.

The new composite material is stronger and even more flexible than the old wooden equipment, explains Cysewski. Like a rubber band, the fiberglass-wood combo bends under a gymnast's weight, then springs back into its original shape.

But don't expect Olympic gymnast to take off as if fired from a slingshot. In bending and springing back, the new equipment win absorb some of the force from those breathtaking bounces off the bars. That, says gymnast Dominique Dawes, will "take some of the pressure off our joints." Less physical pressure - and the ability to practice longer - may help Dawes, Roethlisberger, and other Olympic gymnasts score a perfect 10.

DRAG RACER

Imagine racing your bicycle around a track at 55 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour) - with no brakes! That's what Olympic cyclists will do in the track-racing events. Two cyclists line up on opposite sides of a 400-meter oval track, called a velodrome, and race against the clock for 4,000 meters. This event is known as the "individual pursuit."

Forrest Yelverton at GT Bicycles came up with the new "Superbike" design that world-class cyclist Rebecca Twigg and her teammates will race in Atlanta. "Every part of the bike that faces the wind is designed to reduce drag," Yelverton says.

One component of drag is air resistance, the force of air pushing you back as you pedal forward. But cyclists like Twigg also have to overcome turbulence. That's the irregular flow of air around a body, which can increase drag and slow down a ride.

To reduce air resistance Yelverton designed a bike that comes in contact with very little wind. Except for the pedals and the seat, most parts of the new bike - such as the frame, wheels, and handlebars - are barely more than an inch wide (see front view photo, inset above).

The metal tubing that makes up the frame is also curved in front and pointed in back - similar to the shape of a racing helmet (see diagram, left). This teardrop shape allows the air to pass cleanly over the bike frame, creating minimum turbulence behind.

GT also custom-fit Twigg's bicycle. With the wind whipping over her in a wind tunnel, Twigg adjusted her body as the GT crew measured the force of drag pushing against her.

"We try to find the body position that gives the rider the most riding power with the least drag,' Yelverton says. Then they adjusted the bike's seat, pedals, and handlebars to Twigg's optimum racing position - hunched down with the wind riding over her back.

Riding her custom-built Superbike, Twigg broke the world record with a winning time of 3 minutes and 36.081 seconds at the 1995 World Cycling Championships in Colombia. She's hoping for an even faster win in Atlanta this summer!

KEEP YOUR EYES

ON THE BAT

When U.S. softball player Sheila Cornell steps up to home plate at this summer's Olympics, she'll be swinging a bat with her name written all over it. Made by Easton Sports, the new "Reflex Sheila Cornell" bat should help Cornell send the ball out of the park. It may even help the U.S. softball team bring home the gold in softball's first year as an Olympic-medal sport.

The new bat is made from a alloy - a mixture of several metals Unlike a traditional all-aluminum softball bat, the new bat contains aluminum, manganese, zinc, and copper. Mixing these metals together helped Easton Sports create a lightweight bat that harder and stronger than traditional bat.

"Because it's so strong, we can make the bat wi hollow bats," explains Mike Zlacket of Easton Sports. Thinner walls give the bat extra hitting power, Zlacket says. Here's why:

When Sheila Cornell cracks a fastmoving softball off her bat, the hollow bat compresses slightly and then springs back to its original shape (see diagram, above, right). This compression and rebound happen in a fraction of a second-too fast for our eyes to see. But during that split second, the bat's wall acts like a trampoline, giving the ball an extra push. "The thinner we make the bat's walls, the more they'll compress, and the greater the trampoline effect," says Zlacket.

Cornell was swinging an Easton bat when the U.S. softball team finished first in the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina. This summer in Atlanta, Cornell and her new bat are sure to hit a home run.

LIGHTING

THE WAY

The summer games are still weeks away, but the Olympic flame has already begun its long journey to Atlanta, Georgia. The torch was first lit on March 30 by officials in Olympia, Greece, site of the ancient Olympic Games. The Olympic flame toured villages in Greece before in Los Angeles, California (site of the most recent U.S. Olympics), on April 27. From Los Angeles, 10,000 Americans will carry the torch through 42 states by foot, horseback, bicycle, and boat.

How will the flame survive its 24,000-km (15,000-mile) cross-country journey? With the help of torch designer Sam Shelton, a mechanical engineer from Atlanta.

While here's only one Olympic flame, "there are actually 10,000 identical torches," Shelton explains, "one for each of the 10,000 people who will relay the flame from Los Angeles to Atlanta." Each person carries a lit torch for one leg of the journey and then lights the torch of the next person in the relay.

That means the torches must be lightweight enough for people to carry, and they must hold enough fuel to stay lit from runner to runner. The torch must also have a bright,visible flame, and be able to withstand wind and rain.

To keep the flame alive, Shelton designed a burner valve that has thousands of tiny openings. Propane fuel - stored in a steel tank at the base of the torch's handle - rises up through these openings. Because the openings are so small, the fuel squeezes through at high pressure and great speed. (Think of what happens when you use your thumb to narrow the opening at the end of a garden hose.) The high-speed, high-pressure fuel feeds a flame that neither wind nor rain can extinguish. To be sure the flame wouldn't go out, Shelton tested his torch design under a bathroom shower and outside the window of a moving car!

Nicole Gillespie, 13, will be one of the torchbearers. "I'm very proud and very excited," says the Illinois teen, who will carry the torch for part of its journey in Chicago. "All these people will be there watching."

You can watch the final torchbearer light the stadium flame on TV during the opening ceremonies on July 19. Let the games begin!

OLYMPIC

CHALLENGE

Now that you've got the scoop on some of the latest Olympic gear, why not see what other sports improvements you can spot? Start by checking out our historic Olympic photos. Then plop down in front of your TV and check out the Olympic Games. Use your eagle eyes and powers of observation to spot the differences between the SW photos and the modem games.

How do you think these changes have affected the performance of athletes in each sport? Try to use science to explain your reasoning. Who knows? You may come up with some ideas to make the competition more challenging in future Olympic Games!

Watch one of this summer's Olympic boxing bouts and compare it with this 1932 fight. Are the competitors wearing gear? What else is different? How does the equipment affect the athletes' performance?

Take a close look at this 1952 swimmer. How do today's swimmers differ? Are thE wearing goggles and swim caps? How do today's starting blocks compare? What other comparisons can you make?