Chinese athletes did a great job at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, winning 88 medals in total-But did you know that there are many cool technologies — even space technologies — behind their success?
Quan Hongchan, a 14-year-old diving darling who won the gold, said an Al training system helped her train. Developed by Baidu, the system analyzes （分析）a diver's body posture from the diving board until he or she enters the water. A dive can last less than two seconds. But the Al can catch many important details , such as the diver's starting height, entry speed and angle. These data are sent to coaches right away.
Before setting out for Tokyo, some Chinese athletes visited the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics （中国航天空气动力技术研究院），The technologies there are normally used to develop rockets and missiles. But they can also help rowers, swimmers and cyclists.
"For example, rowers in the women's quadruple sculls （四人双桨赛艇）came to my lab and used a wind tunnel to do experiments." said Jia Yi from the academy. The tunnel can make winds with different speeds. "They measured the air drag（空气阻力）on their bodies. The data helped them change their movement and redesign their sport suits."
But there's even more. The national table tennis team has a popular "coach" called Pongbot. It's a robot that can make difficult shots and never gets tired. Su Bingtian, the first Chinese sprinter to reach the Olympic 100-meter final, uses high-speed cameras to record his training. "The use of technology will help improve the nation's overall competitiveness in sports," said Huang Haiyan, a professor at the Shanghai University of Sport.
