{"id":27279,"date":"2024-08-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=27279"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:10:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:10:55","slug":"how-motion-capture-tech-helped-malindi-elmore-choose-which-shoes-to-wear-in-the-olympic-marathon","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-motion-capture-tech-helped-malindi-elmore-choose-which-shoes-to-wear-in-the-olympic-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"How Motion Capture Tech Helped Malindi Elmore Choose Which Shoes to Wear in the Olympic Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 2 Aug 2024 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

How Motion Capture Tech Helped Malindi Elmore Choose Which Shoes to Wear in the Olympic Marathon<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Canadian also relied upon a metabolic cart and EMGs to ensure she is best-equipped going into next week’s race.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

\n

Main image: Saucony<\/p>\n

A Data & Innovation article brought to you by<\/p>\n

\"sport<\/h6>\n
By Joe Lemire<\/h6>\n
After winning the Canadian 10K Championship in late May, Malindi Elmore made a detour to suburban Boston to visit Saucony\u2019s Human Performance and Innovation Lab to make sure she was best equipped to run the Olympic marathon in Paris.<\/h6>\n

Saucony staff affixed 80 motion capture markers to her body and shoes to detect her movement to sub-millimeter accuracy in front of two Vicon camera systems<\/a>. They placed a mask and air tube over her face to measure oxygen intake and exhalation. And then they asked her to run 11 miles per hour on an instrumented treadmill that can collect force data \u2014 and do it four times, each while wearing a different pair of sneakers.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the best fit for Elmore proved to the\u00a0Endorphin Elite 2<\/a>, which Saucony bills as its \u201cmost aggressive race-day performer\u201d thanks to a carbon fiber plate and responsive foam cushioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw how her body reacts, and we saw how much of a percent decrease in energy she uses per shoe,\u201d Saucony Product Performance Analyst Andrew Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Saucony Performance Engineer James Allen described that as her \u201cmetabolic savings\u201d and explained that the preferred shoe was determined by a combination of Elmore\u2019s biomechanics and physiology, her subjective feedback and the shoe\u2019s mechanical response.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing we try to do here a lot is trying to match subjective opinions to actual objective measurements,\u201d Allen said, with Lynch adding that, in Elmore\u2019s case, the two lined up well.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ultimately, the best fit for Elmore proved to Saucony\u2019s Endorphin Elite 2, which features a carbon fiber plate and responsive foam cushioning. (Photo: Saucony)<\/p><\/div>\n

The eight Vicon Vero cameras track the motion of the reflective markers. That\u00a0data is processed by Vicon Nexus software<\/a>\u00a0and syncs to the force data from the treadmill, which is considered alongside the VO2 datapoints of energy expenditure \u2014 which quantifies the effort needed to sustain that 11-mph pace. EMG wearables monitor muscle activation.<\/p>\n

A separate markerless motion capture system from Vicon is easier to use and, with advances in computer vision and processing from Theia3D, its accuracy and usefulness is growing closer to the gold-standard marker-based mocap.<\/p>\n

Elmore<\/a>, a Stanford All-American who competed in the 1,500 meters in the 2004 Games and will have run the marathon in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics, holds the Canadian national record in the marathon with a 2:24:50, which equates to a pace of nearly 10.9 mph for the full 26.2 miles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTesting shoes is really a fun and rewarding process, seeing the changes over time and getting on the treadmill,\u201d Elmore said in a video shared by Vicon. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to understand the nuances between the different shoes and what the small, subtle changes are that could make a big difference over the course of a marathon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, Saucony used its Innovation Lab to fit Elmore, a service available to all its brand ambassadors, although she is the lone Olympian among the group. But the high-tech data collection is also used to make improvements in shoe design.<\/p>\n

Allen and Lynch noted that innovations in foam to reduce impact and preserve energy have been a big focus for the Wolverine Worldwide-owned company. That\u2019s been beneficial as they ensure the sneakers serve all wearers and not just the elites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn testing those foams and trying to match and see, if we exert a certain additional amount of force, does that change the foam\u2019s mechanical property, looking at the duration of that force, trying to match it to how much time the foam is under compression during a gait cycle,\u201d Allen said. \u201cOf course, that’s going to be different for everyone. But just testing these various things to see how the mechanic properties will change for different variables.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was brought to you by SBJ Tech<\/strong>, a Leaders Group<\/strong> company. As a Leaders Performance Institute<\/strong> member, you are able to enjoy exclusive access to SBJ Tech<\/strong>\u00a0content in the field of athletic performance.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

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