Inverse

July 2024

Olympic Limits

Athletes are more skilled, stronger, and faster than ever. For the Olympic Games Paris 2024, as records fall left and right, you’d be right to ask — just what are the physical limits of athletes, what are those high-tech shoes they’re wearing, and how do they do that? With a little help from the experts, Inverse is here to answer and guide you through how the athletes got here — and where the future might take us.

Olympic Limits

Olympic Surfing Requires a Perfect Wave — This 58-Year-Old Tech Can Bring It

By Alex French

Want better surfing at the Olympics? Bring on the wave machine.

Olympic Limits

Women Continue To Catch Up To Men In Marathons. Will They Ever Win?

By Claire Maldarelli

Statistically-speaking, women could be on course to beat men’s times in the marathon — unless they hit the physiological wall first.

Olympic Limits

Inside the Science That Makes Nike's Alphafly 3 the Fastest Shoe At the Paris 2024 Olympics

Inverse got an inside look at Nike’s Alphafly 3, currently the world’s speediest marathon shoe.

Olympic Limits

How Athletic Technology Advances Olympic Games — And When It Goes Too Far

Can you cheat with technology at the Olympics? Not if these gatekeepers have anything to say about it.

Olympic Limits

How Olympic Breakers Exploit Physics For Gold

The newest Olympic sport is a master class in bending physics to your will. Here’s how the athletes pull it off.