Some Canadian Paralympic athletes use engineering backgrounds to build the perfect racing chair

Two Canadian Paralympic racers have leveraged their engineering backgrounds to elevate and personalize their equipment in the lead-up to the games.

Wheelchair sprinter Austin Smeenk has been collaborating with Canadian scientists to help hone his chair to just the essentials while also ensuring its size and proportions are custom-tailored to his body and sprinting forums. In a CBC News report, he even mentions that they went as far as to test different versions of the chair, some allowing his arms to extend fully and others keeping a slight bend in the elbow.

Alexandre Hayward, a 27-year-old cycling champion, has an engineering background and used it to do as much aerodynamic testing on his bike as possible. He has limited feeling in most of his body, so he’s also added a few touchpoints across the bike to ensure he can sit in the correct positions for maximum speed.

You can read more about how the two athletes are preparing for the games in the CBC report.

Source: CBC News

Image Source: Cycling Canada