Updated: 2004-08-14
The expected hot weather will work against all the athletes in this summer's Athens Olympic Games and the Chinese will be no exception.
The Mediterranean climate will bring the southern European country scorching sunshine but little rain during the Games, when the temperature could rise to as high as 40 C.
To protect the Chinese contingent from high temperatures, a kind of cryostatic garment was invented to keep the athletes' bodies cool.
The vest, made of special cryostatic materials, will be kept in a refrigerator or ice water for some time before an athlete puts it on.
"They will feel very cool after putting on the vests, which are ventilated and are ultraviolet radiation-proof," said Feng Lianshi, one of the experts developing the vests.
"But they should not wear it more than 20 minutes every time, nor should they have it on during competitions," Feng warned.
While the low-temperature vests help the Chinese athletes conserve energy, some sportswear will give them a hand in getting better results.
The famous "shark skin," worn in the past four years by top swimmers, including Australia's treble Olympic champion Ian Thorpe and Barcelona world champion Michael Phelps of the United States,, has been modified by the producer to suit Chinese swimmers.
"The producers have modified the swimsuits which were formerly designed according to western athletes and we chose the half-length instead of the full-body suits," said head coach Zhao Ge.
Top swimmers have increased their muscle force and technique to the maximal display, so reducing drag has become another way of getting faster.
Thus manufacturers of swim wear developed the series of suits made from a fabric, which was designed to mimic the properties of a shark's skin. The drag reducing effect of these suits was claimed to be up to 7.5%.
But high-tech seems to be more important to athletes when they are training if they want to achieve good results.
The Chinese diving team, winners of five golds at last Olympics, employ a three-dimensional imaging system to give the divers a full view of every move they do in the air.
"It is a great help," said Li Dazheng, a top diving official of the Chinese Swimming Association. "It enables the divers to see every detail of their series of moves starting from jumping off."
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