Rise of the sports 'super-material': How athletes including Alexander Munyao and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have smashed records wearing a NASA-inspired polymer - and Team GB is set to wear it at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer

The infinitesimal that sports fans person waited 3 years for is almost yet here, pinch the Olympic Games Paris 2024 group to statesman connected 26 July. 

During nan 19-day event, 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will compete crossed 329 events, ranging from athletics to skateboarding. 

If you're readying connected watching nan games, you mightiness announcement respective athletes wearing sportswear featuring a swirling shape crossed it. 

This NASA-inspired 'super-material' is developed by Rheon Labs, and has already helped a number of athletes including Alexander Munyao, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, and Tamirat Tola to break records. 

Speaking to MailOnline, Olga Kravchenko, Head of Design astatine Rheon Labs, said: 'Our exertion has mixed years of biomechanical investigation pinch analyzable chemistry successful a measurement that will unlock a caller world of jock imaginable and style a caller era of capacity for mundane runners.'

Rheon Labs is simply a London-based corporate of innovators who are designing nan 'next breed of supermaterials'. 

'Our Rheon exertion is an energy-absorbing ace polymer which is responsive (strain-rate sensitive), lightweight, and capacity driven,' Ms Kravchenko told MailOnline. 

'It tin beryllium applied arsenic a worldly aliases "ingredient" to activewear to optimise performance.'

In its earthy state, nan polymer is soft and flexible. 

However, erstwhile it's subjected to force, it absorbs nan power and stiffens. 

Ms Kravchenko compares this behaviour to that of bedewed sand.  

'Like moving connected bedewed sand, it only hardens nether impact, past returns to being soft and pliable,' she explained. 

'This unsocial capacity intends that it tin supply support and trim power inefficiency erstwhile needed, without compromising connected comfort.'

In applicable terms, nan worldly positions nan muscles into nan astir businesslike position, ensuring that power is not mislaid arsenic nan jock competes. 

'In a world of elite sport, incremental gains (as small arsenic 0.3%) tin beryllium nan quality betwixt nan 1st and 4th place,' Ms Kravchnko said. 

Rheon's super-material is presently utilized by respective clotheswear brands successful their products, including Rapha, Harley Davidson, and Ruroc. 

Adidas besides uses nan worldly crossed its Techfit and Adizero ranges, which person already proved celebrated among galore salient athletes. 

In caller weeks, respective world records person been surgery by athletes wearing Rheon.  

'Alexander Munyao won nan 2024 Men's London Marathon wearing nan adidas Adizero Control x Rheon shorts,' Ms Kravchnko told MailOnline. 

'And Emmanuel Wanyonyi group a history-making men's world grounds successful nan 2024 adidas Road to Record.

'Last year, Tamirat Tola collapsed nan unbreakable 12-year men's people grounds astatine nan NYC marathon, wearing Rheon technology.'

Looking up to this summer's Olympic Games, Rheon has been revealed connected nan squad kits for Team GB, Ethiopia, and France, and could besides thief nan athletes from these teams to break records, according to Ms Kravchnko. 

'There's nary logic why not! We've already seen world-records group by Emmanuel Wanyonyi & Grant Holloway successful Rheon, truthful we're hoping for a fewer more,' she added. 

'For us, to spot athletes wearing Rheon successful Paris will beryllium a very proud infinitesimal for nan full squad astatine Rheon Labs. 

'We're proud of tech invention wrong sports to beryllium taken earnestly and highlighted wrong specified prestigious games.'

As pinch immoderate caller technology, location will apt beryllium concerns that Rheon could springiness athletes an unfair advantage, often referred to arsenic 'technical doping'.

'The speech astir Engineering & Sport will ever beryllium an absorbing one,' Ms Kravchnko said. 

'You only person to comparison what athletes were wearing 50 years agone to spot conscionable really galore advancements location person been to nan instrumentality athletes are utilizing crossed nan board, but besides done to their nutrition and training. 

'Governing bodies are yet nan ones who will determine if location is immoderate unfair advantage and we each person to instrumentality to these rules successful bid to suffice for world competition.'

In 2019, concerns were raised astir Nike's Vaporfly moving shoes aft a study revealed that they springiness runners a 4 to 5 per cent advantage complete others during races. 

Meanwhile, nan LZR Racer, a statement of swimsuits created by Speedo, was famously banned successful 2009 for giving swimmers an unfair advantage.   

However, Ms Kravchnko told MailOnline that there's 1 cardinal quality betwixt these arguable technologies and Rheon's super-matieral. 

'We are simply reducing constraints connected nan quality body's potential, whereas technologies successful nan past person had an additive advantage, specified arsenic c plates for further propulsion,' she said. 

If you're not an Olympic athlete, don't beryllium deterred, arsenic Ms Kravchnko says that nan super-material tin beryllium conscionable arsenic effective for amateurs. 

'Everyday consumers are progressively alert of nan benefits of method moving apparel for performance, arsenic good arsenic being wary of capacity deterioration which focuses only connected aesthetics,' she said.

'Rheon mixes some method benefits and aesthetics done its business pinch adidas. 

'It's disposable for consumers to bargain for a logic - to thief everyone execute individual goals, whether that's a first 5K PB aliases a world grounds marathon.'