2024-08-22 09:00:00
Every little detail counts when adjusting wheelchairs for Paralympic athletes. A small performance gain can help win an Olympic medal. Nicolas Forstmann, coordinator of the Paraperf project at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep), explains that he worked on the wheelchair’s footplate, the support on which the athlete places his feet.
“Some athletes have strength in their legs and feet. If their chair has a stiffer footplate, they can minimize the dispersion of energy when they lean on it to make their movements more efficient.” But this support must be both rigid and lightweight. The players in the Insep Paraperf project – a priority research program launched in 2020 that brings together 13 different laboratories – have worked on this subject.
Replicating damaged material
The conclusion? A carbon blade. While the design of the latter remains fairly simple, the blade provides better propulsion to athletes. A plus for sports such as badminton or fencing, which require strong impulses at the start. “In creating this palette, it was necessary to translate into a technical problem ‘a question of terrain’ raised by athletes”explains Nicolas Forstmann. How many athletes competing in the Paris Paralympic Games will benefit from it? It is impossible to have the answer, since INSEP keeps the names of the athletes concerned by all its innovations very secret until the start of the competition. We will only know that nearly a hundred of them have passed through its hands.
View of the carbon pallet added to the wheelchair. Credit: Insep
Sometimes, the problem on the ground comes from the athletes’ concern about the wear and tear of equipment. This is what motivated the work of the Insep teams on the glove occasionally used by athletes to grip the handrail of their wheelchair, i.e. the bar located around the wheel. An essential piece of equipment, because in para-athletics, the athlete “boxes” this handrail to propel themselves and go as fast as possible. This is where some of them will request a custom-made glove. “These are very individual pieces because the glove fits the shape of the hand and must not get stuck at the moment of impact.”explains Nicolas Forstmann. Insep is therefore working on replicas of damaged pairs of gloves.
The work carried out within the framework of Paraperf – which lasts until the end of 2024, the time for the various laboratories involved to draw their conclusions following the Paralympic Games – also aims to provide tools that facilitate the evaluation of the athlete or their equipment in a practical situation.We have worked a lot on the interfaces such as the cushions, the seat, the backrest and even the wheel adjustment.lists Nicolas Forstmann. The tire pressure and the camber angle, which corresponds to the inclination of the wheels, are determined precisely.”
Performance measurement
“The athlete is an expert, he knows his equipment perfectly, Nicolas Forstmann believes. But we must succeed in objectifying their feelings and sensations. And check that there is no risk of injury.” Data that is difficult to capture, especially when the sport is practiced indoors where GPS does not work well. Measuring speeds and distances is more complex. As is the ability to propel and accelerate. A skidometer was designed to define the point at which the wheels skid according to power, speed and grip. The idea is to measure the equipment without the athlete. Here, a component of the chair is isolated and the performance measured according to outdoor conditions (wet or dry ground, etc.) in order to define what types of wheels and pressure are necessary according to the conditions.
Insep also set about measuring the way in which an athlete’s pressure is exerted in their chair to determine whether they need to add a cushion, but also the impact on the propulsion of the seated position. The same goes for the handrail: some allow rapid acceleration while others promise a higher top speed. It is necessary to analyze which is best according to the sport, the athlete and their disability. Measuring the symmetry of the propulsion is also important. The objective behind all these measurements? “Provide elements to support decision-making and discussion between the coach and the athlete with precise, quantified information”summarizes Nicolas Forstmann.
From top-level sport to mainstream outlets
A team from Aix-Marseille University (AMU), working within the Paraperf project, has developed instrumented wheels. Equipped with speed and force sensors, they can be attached to any chair in order to measure an athlete’s power. “This wheel will also be used in hospitals to teach first-time paraplegics how to use wheelchairs and prevent shoulder injuries.”adds Arnaud Hays, scientific and technical manager of the Paraperf project at AMU. Or to study routes for people with reduced mobility (PRM). “For example, soft floors are better for able-bodied people but require 30 to 40% more force for people in wheelchairs for whom a hard floor is more suitable.”he explains. Regularly, innovations for high-level sport subsequently benefit a wider audience.
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