NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL
September 26, 2021
NJSC NLCS Jeju | Sports
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The recent 2020 Tokyo Olympics sparked colossal interest in Tech Doping in sports. As the technology develops there are a lot of efficient but excessive utilisations of
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combining those two. There are also many athletes that
Editor-in-chief: Shona Hyun Park
overcame their physicality and continued to pursue their
Chair: Alex Yoonjae Chung Nick Sunghyun Oh
passion in sports that inspired so many young athletes. In
Link Teacher: Ms J Forster
this SC Newsletter, there are articles regarding the diverse
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viewpoints on Tech Doping, and three athletes who faced
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their difficulties and ended up establishing remarkable achievements.
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Tech Doping in Sports Jay Jung
Athletes have always been longing to find the best equipment to enhance their performance. As time passed and technology developed, some aspects of this business began to change. Wait, what is happening now? The main purpose of the equipment is to help and play along with the athletes, not to excessively help them, which might ultimately result in what the modern society call, technology doping. Technology doping is a commonly utilised term when describing the unfair advantage provided to the athlete by the equipment he or she uses. These days technologically advanced products are used in various events from small-town competitions to the highest level games around the globe; such as the Olympics. Now, let’s take a look at some of the controversial products currently available in the running market and how different associations are trying to prevent the atmosphere of injustice within the roads and the tracks.
One famous, maybe the most well-known product for the possibility of tech doping is the Nike Alphafly Next%. For years, Nike has been faced with the barrier of 2 hours marathon which was considered as the limit of humanity and a record that has not been broken yet. They conducted the “Breaking 2” project using one of the greatest marathoners of all time to be the one to break the limit; Eluid Kipchodge. After years of industrious research and testing, they finally produced a masterpiece. The Alphafly Next% consists of a full-length Zoom X foam with an average stack height of 3.8cm, 2 forefoot AirPods, and 3carbon fiber propulsion plates, making it a beast at competitions. The shoe was scientifically proven to increase 4% of running efficiency and 3.4% of speed increase. This project had great success as a whole. On October 12th, 2019, Eluid Kipchodge, pacemakers, and the Nike tech team held a marathon in Australia, Ineos. In front of millions of viewers in the world, Eluild Kipchodge broke the world record of 2 hours 1 minute 2
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and 39 seconds by an astonishing 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds. At this significant moment in history, Kipchodge was wearing the Nike Alphafly Next%. After the marathon, Kipchodge’s record was questioned as to whether it was the athlete or the shoe.
Kipchodge and Alphafly(From Reuters.com)
Another example of technology doping that happened in the field of track and field was during the sprinting races. The Nike Air Zoom Maxfly is becoming a very controversial shoe by the influence of the Tokyo Olympic 2021. During the Tokyo Olympics, many track and field athletes who won medals were seen wearing this shoe in particular. Ranging from hurdle silver medalist to all the medalists in the 100m sprint wore the exact same shoe which was the Nike Maxfly. According to Nike and various sports tech sources, these track shoes possess “Super Spikes,” which are made out of a thin layer of carbon fiber plate and a specially designed responsive foam so that combining the two, gives you 85% bounce once you implant your foot and propel yourself
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further. Karsten Warlcom, the gold medalist of men 400m hurdles, said “I don’t see why you should put anything beneath a sprinting shoe... If you want cushioning, you can put a mattress there. But if you put on a trampoline... I think it takes credibility away from our sport.” As people can see, some athletes are strongly opposing the idea of the Nike Maxfly and the advanced technology in sports equipment.
All bronze, silver and gold medalists of 100m men sprint have the Nike Maxfly on.
The world is currently at a border of technological advancement and technology doping. Sports are supposed to be a fair competition between athletes. However, the products with technological advancements are definitely a plus to both the sports industry and the athletes. At the moment, the WADA, the World Anti-Doping Association, made certain regulations to prevent such unfairness arising in the sports world these days. Such as limiting the stack height of marathon shoes to 3.9cm with only 1 carbon fibre plate. Humans always carry the ambition of
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outweighing the previous generations. So, in order to keep both sides alive, humanity has to find a delicate balance in between.
“Win or lose, do it fairly” by Knute Rockne, one of the football coaches that is regarded as one of the best of all time, reinforces the true meaning of sportsmanship and the one humanity have to always keep in mind as athletes.
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Inspirational sport stories Ahyoung Kim (Bella)
Glenn Cunningham; an inspirational sports player who overcame adversity Glenn Cunningham was announced and declared by the doctor that he will never be able to run or even walk after his dreadful confrontation with a fire incident at the age of 8. The injury was so grave that even the doctor could not assure the future of Glenn. This accident took away his beloved older brother and left unerasable memories and scars. But Glenn Cunningham wasn’t weak. He overcame the adversity and stood strong and kept running. He was persistent and tenacious and kept on trying to rehabilitate and run. As time passed his work started to pay off. He was able to walk, run and even join the track team in college. And through his determination, he stood in the Olympics proud and was awarded his new record in the 800-meter run. And in February 1934, in the Capitalise Madison Square Garden of New York City, the man who was destined to not be able to walk or run or even be able to survive, ran the world’s fastest mile.
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Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh, the man who had the fastest speed in the entire world in drag flick( A scoring technique in hockey which a player crouch down next to the ball and pick it up on the shaft of the hockey stick); a speed of 145 km/h. This man was also a victim of an unfortunate accident. Sandeep Singh who had his first international debut in January 2004, was severely injured 2 years after his debut in the year 2006 by an accidental gunshot on the Shatabdi train. He was on his way to join the national team and leave for the World cup held in Germany 2 days later. Through this unfortunate event not only has he suffered a lot but he was almost paralyzed and had to be in a wheelchair for entirely two years. But Sandeep was determined just like Gleen cunningham. He did not give up. And through his determination, he was able to be known as one of the vital cogs in Indian society.
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Kim Yeon-kyoung, the Leader Who Wrote a New History in South Korea Volleyball Sharon (Seongwon) Yoon
The recent Tokyo Olympics 2020 has been an especially memorable Olympic for South Korea. Why? There are many reasons indeed -- including the fact that Korea won a total of six Olympic gold medals in this competition -- but there is another reason why this was a special Olympic. If you’ve heard of Kim Yeon-kyoung (김연경), a very famous and talented volleyball player, you’ll see why this Olympics was so special.
Kim Yeon-kyoung is a professional volleyball player in South Korea, and she has been maintaining her individual world rank as 1st. This is an amazing achievement globally, and her skills have been recognized by different people and countries. In 2005, when she was just in high school, she was confirmed to be in the South Korean National team. She was also welcomed to a professional volleyball team called ‘Heungkuk Life Insurance’. She also won the finals in the stove league.
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However, she had to overcome a severe injury in her ankle. Despite her challenge, Kim Yeonkyoung decided to attend the Asian Games in 2006, in which she finished scoring 5th place. But her greatest achievement starts now: in 2010, she attended the Asian Games again, and won her first medal: silver. From 2010 to 2011, she scored first place in three of the annual games and had a contract with a Turkey volleyball team. Moreover, in 2012, she received three other awards for her abilities, established a new record for volleyball in South Korea, also scoring a new record in the Olympics with 207 points. Not only was she extraordinary in her abilities, but also with her personality. During her conflict with her volleyball company, when they weren’t able to give everyone the amount of salary they deserved, Kim Yeon-kyoung decided to decrease her salary and give her annual salary to the rest of the team members. She was then named, the ‘goddess of volleyball.’
Her amazing career as a volleyball player continued until the year 2021, where the Tokyo Olympics took place. At the age of 33, Kim Yeon-kyoung knew that she would be retiring from the South Korea National team this year. That meant that the Tokyo Olympics would be the last 9
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Olympics in her career. As the leader of the national team, Kim Yeon-kyoung bravely led her teammates despite her injury and scored a new record in South Korea. Even though the power of Brazil and Serbia was inevitable, the national team tried their very hardest to achieve this goal, and it’s our job to congratulate them on their own accomplishments.
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