One of the most exciting parts of the games is seeing athletes push to their limits and set new Commonwealth, or even World records. At the current games we’ve already seen a huge number of records being broken. Which has me wondering – are our athletes really getting stronger, faster, better – or is there something else going on?

There is no doubt that athletes bodies have changed over the years. If we took a look at athletes a hundred years ago, they all had similar body types, regardless of which sport they competed in. But over the years sports scientists started to realise that different body types would be better for different sports. In some sports, like basketball, it’s an obvious advantage to be tall. For gymnastics it’s better to be short. To be a great runner you want to have long legs – just one of the reasons why you’ll never see me on the track at the Olympic games!

At the same time that we’ve started selecting for the ideal body type for each sport, we’ve also been figuring out the best ways to do things – with a little help from science.

These days pretty much everything that an athlete does is tested, monitored, and analysed. We can use sensors and cameras to track every move the body makes so that improvements can be made. Nutritionists are on board to design personalised diets to meet individual needs. There are also sports psychologists to help make sure athletes are mentally prepared for competition. 

And it’s not just the body types of athletes and the way that they train that has changed. We’re also improving the equipment that they use. When material scientists came up with new, low-friction fabric that could be used to make swimsuits we suddenly saw swimming records being broken all over the place. Stronger, lighter materials used to make race bikes have helped cyclists go faster than ever before. Scientists have helped to develop faster skis, lighter shoes, more aerodynamic helmets. And all of these things are helping athletes break records we thought might not be humanly possible.

Even the surfaces and arenas that athletes compete in have changed. Running tracks are a great example. These surfaces are now specially designed and fabricated to reduce the energy they absorb from the runner, letting athletes run faster. Swimming pool designs have changed to give the water a smoother surface, and to have less turbulence, allowing swimmers to swim faster. Even the spring floors used by gymnasts have been engineered to be more “springy” – allowing these athletes to bounce higher and perform more twists and turns than ever before.

Scientists, engineers, designers – all these people have a greater role in sports, and in breaking records, than we might realise. 

Athletes are getting stronger, faster and better – they’re just doing it with a little bit of help from science and technology. For me, that makes the games even more exciting.