U.S. snowboarder Kelly Clark is bringing home at least one medal from the Sochi Winter Olympics — the bronze, which she earned in the ladies’ halfpipe competition. Needless to say, Clark, as an elite athlete, is in incredible shape. And she credits that, in part, to the Athlete Management Platform (AMP), an app developed by longtime ski and snowboard sponsor Sprint, that is used to track the fitness levels and performance of more than 300 athletes by more than 350 coaches. “I committed to this program four years ago, and I’ve had the three most successful seasons of my career injury-free,” Clark told the Denver Post in January. “I can be traveling, and my trainer in Utah can keep tabs on me. Basically, there is no cheating for me when I’m working with this program.” AMP enables Clark to access months of daily workout and training sessions on her smartphone. Her coaches and trainers can also access this information, provide input or update workout plans to help Clark improve her performance, and in turn get her in top shape before big competitions, like the Winter Olympics. “I wish I was a kid growing up now,” said Clark, who at age 30 is competing against riders almost half her age. “It’s a lot different than it used to be. It’s amazing to have this technology and ability to progress.”
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For the U.S. skeleton and bobsled teams, the Ubersense app has been a technological godsend. This app offers real-time video analysis and feedback on smartphones and tablets — a huge upgrade from the tapes, spreadsheets, and notebooks that the skeleton coach Tuffy Latour was previously using to record his athletes’ data. “The app has taken us from the ‘dark ages’ of using a video camera, computer and hours of downloading video to a simple-to-use technology,” Latour told Smithsonian magazine in late January. “[It] has taken us to the next level in getting our athletes the video feedback they need to succeed.”
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Through Ubersense, Latour and other coaches can analyze every second of a run via slow motion, tracing and other comparison tools, and share their notes with athletes almost instantly. With a track that measures 1,200-plus meters, and athletes who travel around the world, this app bridges the technological gap between the coach and the athlete, allowing them to visualize what they’re doing wrong — and more importantly, how to correct it. “For a coach to watch a sled go by at 80, 90 miles per hour and to decipher everything that’s happening in a split second is almost impossible,” said Zach Lund, head driving coach for the U.S. bobsled team. “It’s really helped make my job easier.” But it’s not just elite athletes who are on board. Ubersense has 2 million users across 30 sports around the world — from everyday athletes to collegiate and professional teams — allowing anyone to optimize their training, even if they’ll never stand on an Olympic podium.
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This Veteran Suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in Iraq. Now He’s Got a Chance to Win a Medal
All the athletes who qualify for the Paralympics have overcome obstacles to excel at their sports, but perhaps none more so than Army veteran Joel Hunt, who was named to the U.S. Paralympic Alpine Ski Team on Wednesday. Joel Warner profiled Hunt’s quest to make the team last year for Westword, writing, “during his three Iraq deployments, Hunt was exposed to more than 100 improvised explosive-device blasts, explosions that left him with a traumatic brain injury that, among other things, has slowly paralyzed his left leg.” Hunt had to use a wheelchair to get around after his 2007 discharge, and PTSD hit him hard—in a speech he often gives about his story, he says there were times he “wished that I had died in Iraq rather than face the difficulties of my situation.”
But then in 2008, when his health had been deteriorating for years, his parents encouraged him to attend a three-day event in Breckenridge, Colo. to help vets with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) learn to ski. Hunt had begun to leave his wheelchair for walks, and although he was skeptical about skiing, when he tried it, it appealed to him immediately. “Hold on,” Hunt told Warner he remembers thinking, “This is like roller skating.” Operation TBI Freedom bought him a ski pass, and Hunt skied 125 times that winter.
The next winter, Hunt began training at the National Sports Center for the Disabled’s program at Winter Park. The Challenged Athletes Foundation’s Operation Rebound donated the $3500 fee required to participate. Hunt kept at it, improving at ski racing year by year, and in 2013 he qualified for the Paralympic Alpine Development Program in Aspen.
Even with a paralyzed left leg and double vision, Hunt can speed down the slopes, and now he will be the first Paralympic skier with a TBI. He’ll join three other veterans on the Paralympic Alpine Ski Team: Army veteran Heath Calhoun, Coast Guard Veteran Chris Devlin-Young, and Marine Corps veteran Jon Lujan. These vets will head to Sochi to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games from March 7 through 16, offering ski racing fans plenty to cheer about.
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The Surprising University That’s Educating a Huge Number of Olympic Athletes
DeVry University, the learning institution you might know from commercials and subway ads, is actually one of the leading feeders to next month’s Olympics. Seriously. According to the New York Times, the institution has 15 students heading to Russia next month to compete in the Winter games. That’s pretty impressive for a school that has no coaches, mascot, stadiums or notable sports teams. In fact, the for-profit school is not far off from the top Winter Olympics feeder, Westminster College in Salt Lake City, which has about 20 students on Team USA.
So what’s the secret? First, DeVry is an official Olympic education provider and offers reduced or waived tuition for classes. Second, because there are about 90 campuses nationwide and tons of online courses, it works especially well for athletes with busy training schedules who also want to pursue higher education. Bobsledder Elana Meyers, 29, is currently studying business administration at DeVry to prepare for life after the Olympics. She told the Times, “Whether I win a gold medal or I finish dead last, come March, I’m going to need to find a job.”
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