AI Enhancements at Paris 2024 Olympics: Is Smart Tech Cheating?

Key Takeaways

• Modern Olympians use AI to optimize their performance.
• A growing array of smart wearables help modern athletes train.
• However, some applications of the technology are less legitimate.

To prepare for the Olympics, elite athletes use all sorts of technology, which these days, includes Artificial Intelligence.

Many Olympians now employ AI to track and analyze their performance, giving them important insight for training. Meanwhile, the technology sits at the heart of an ongoing arms race between users of performance-enhancing drugs and anti-doping agencies.

Artificial Intelligence in Doping

Machine learning models’ ability to analyze thousands of potential molecular combinations allows for creating designer drugs that have similar effects to known PEDs but won’t necessarily get picked up by traditional tests.

While possible in theory, there is currently no evidence of the practice. But there are some experts who speculate  that it may be happening. 

Another way dopers could potentially leverage AI is to calculate tailored micro-dosing regimens, allowing them to take just the right amount of PEDs to give them an edge without raising red flags.

Conversely, anti-doping agencies harness AI to enhance their detection capabilities. 

Ahead of the Paris games, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has used AI models  to analyze athletes’ biological passports, identifying subtle anomalies and patterns that suggest doping. 

Besides doping, AI is used by athletes in many legitimate ways during training.

Analyzing Performance Data

In recent years, smartphone apps and wearable devices have made it easier than ever for Olympians to collect valuable performance data, and there is a growing range of AI solutions designed to help them analyze and optimize. 

Building on the trend, Samsung has distributed customized Galaxy Z Flip6  smartphones packed with AI apps and features to athletes competing in Paris. But at the elite level, even more specialized equipment is often used.

Specialized Equipment

Among Olympians and other elite athletes, devices like the Catapult Vector  monitoring system provide expansive physiological and geospatial data for analyses.

Combining heart rate sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and satellite antennas, the Catapult Vector measures athletes’ positions, distances, speeds, accelerations, jumps, impacts, and heart rates.

All this data is then fed into machine learning algorithms to help athletes improve and recover from injury.

In a similar vein, MIT startup Striv has created innovative shoe soles equipped with sensors to track athletes’ force, movement, and form.

Olympic athletes like Team USA marathon runner Clayton Young tested the technology in the leadup to the Olympics. But looking forward, the company is targeting casual runners too.

“We think the Paris 2024 Olympics will be a really interesting opportunity for us to test the product with the athletes training for it,” founder Axl Chen said  “After that, we’ll offer this to the general public to help everyone get the same kind of support and coaching advice as professional athletes.”

In the end, although it has potential uses for cheats, AI is no different to any other technology used by athletes and it is no surprise that the Paris Olympics is showcasing the latest novel use cases.