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This is a pretty sad article. I wonder if they've ever considered g-suits to mitigate the pressure on the body. I'm not sure if it'd be effective but fighter pilots have a pretty similar set of extremes that they work in.
Better helmet padding may be able to help significantly here.
How terribly sad. Perhaps the speeds of the sled tracks could be reduced. A helmet designed to blunt the millisecond g force spikes could also be developed.
A strap or some padding that absorbs fleeting contact with the ice maybe has a chance to make a difference, but there are so few people involved in these sports that testing changes scientifically will be very hard.
Bobsleigh has been a feature of the Winter Olympics since 1924 [1]. Yet it might have taken until 2013 for someone to measure its g force on its athletes' heads.
One would think that when something is developed to the point of an international sport, it's certainly been measured. Been tested. But the disturbing or revealing or inspiring truth is, most of our normality has not been scientifically considered.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobsleigh_at_the_Winter_Olympi...
> On Feb. 22, 2013, Morris attached an accelerometer to his helmet, then launched his body down a 1,500-meter track at the sliding center in Whistler, British Columbia, which is considered the fastest track in the world and was a venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Bobsleigh has been a feature of the Winter Olympics since 1924 [1]. Yet it might have taken until 2013 for someone to measure its g force on its athletes'…
How terribly sad. Perhaps the speeds of the sled tracks could be reduced. A helmet designed to blunt the millisecond g force spikes could also be developed.
The issue with helmet design is likely the same one football players face: that the place the impact absorbing material needs to go is between skull and brain. There’s no wearable helmet that’s going to change the result of skull being decelerated or accelerated as the brain keeps going. A strap or some padding that absorbs fleeting contact with the ice maybe has a chance to make a difference, but there are so few pe…
An alternative to save the sport is completely redesign it to limit maximum accelerations. Usually injuries follow power laws so I doubt even that much reduction would be necessary (shed maximum accel to 1/3 current and I bet lifetime injuries could become acceptable). Mandatory equipment changes would probably help as well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The issue with helmet design is likely the same one football players face: that the place the impact absorbing material needs to go is between skull and brain. There’s no wearable helmet that’s going to change the result of skull being decelerated or accelerated as the brain keeps going. A strap or some padding that absorbs fleeting contact with the ice maybe has a chance to make a difference, but there are so few pe…
I'm no expert on helmet design, but surely you can absorb that force elsewhere, as long as the acceleration on the skull is damped? Degenerate case: a car's airbag does not go between my brain and my skull, yet it does prevent my brain from slamming into my skull.