Olympics

There's only a few seconds of running in a bobsleigh heat, but one slip can skittle the whole team. Seeing the need for high-performance ice sport footwear, BMW has jumped in to build custom, 3D-printed traction aids for the 2025 Winter Olympics.

It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome – indeed, this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics.

Populous has completed the only new permanent venue for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Named the Ice Ribbon, the arena will host speed skating events and is defined by an eye-catching illuminated facade.

Look how far we've come in the last 35 years, and imagine where we'll be in 2056. What will the Olympic Games look like in an age of genetic editing, advanced bionics, augmented reality, advanced medicine, neural links and artificial intelligence?

Paris Region, ADP and RATP are eyeing the development of an urban air mobility branch ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, and have joined forces with German air taxi startup Volocopter to make it happen.

Toyota has confirmed that its e-Palette people mover will be autonomously transporting athletes throughout the Olympic and Paralympic villages.

Back in March, the first Tokyo 2020 Robot Project helpers were revealed. Now Toyota has pulled back the curtain on its full line-up, with mascot bots, full-sized humanoids and field support bots joining the delivery and human support robots already announced.

The International Olympic Committee recently received a new headquarters in Switzerland, courtesy of 3XN. Featuring an eye-catching glazed facade, the building boasts significant sustainable design, including rainwater collection, solar panels, and the use of recycled materials.

The Organising Committee for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo has revealed the first Tokyo 2020 Robot Project helpers, which will assist spectators in wheelchairs to ensure they have "an experience they are unlikely to forget."​

​Back in 2014, the “blackest” material ever produced was revealed. Dubbed Vantablack, this material absorbed 99.96 percent of light that hit it. Now designer Asif Khan has created a stunning pavilion spray-painted with Vantablack for the Winter Olympics.

Intel's Shooting Star drones are starting to change the game when it comes to spectacular light shows. For their latest outing, the diminutive aircraft were shown forming snowboarders and iconic rings for the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

In what may be a preview of the future of athletics, Hubo, a humanoid robot, carried the Olympic torch in Daejeon, South Korea as part of the relay leading up to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The robot had to perform a disaster rescue operation to hand off the torch to the next runner.