No, the astronauts aren't competing. However, there will be a little bit of NASA there, by way of spin-offs. A spin-off is a product that is developed from technologies or materials that were originally developed for the space program. There are some in the areas of health and medicine such as CAT scans and MRIs. Some spin-offs that you may have in your home are water purifiers, cordless power tools and beds made with tempur foam. You may wear glasses that have a coating that protects lenses from scratching or sunglasses that block out radiation. All are made from NASA technology.
Athletes have also benefited from NASA spin-offs. In the 1984 Summer Olympics the US crew of the four-oar-with-coxswain shell won a silver medal, the first U.S. medal won in the event in many years. How? By using the same technology as used to reduce drag in airplanes and a racing yacht, riblets. Riblets are not small pieces of barbecue meat. Riblets are V-shaped grooves with angles that point in the direction of the air flow. They are no bigger than a scratch. And they look like very tiny ribs. Riblets help reduce "skin-friction" drag. When NASA learned that fast-swimming sharks also have something like riblets on their skin, a riblet skin was invented for NASA.
It's not just boats and airplanes that use riblets to increase speed. The same technology has also been used in competition swimsuits. U.S. swimmers who wore these suits won 13 gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal in the 1995 Pan American Games.
In the 1998 Winter Olympics, the U.S. Speedskating Team came home from the winter Olympics with silver and bronze medals. They give NASA part of the credit for their success. A polishing process and tool invented by a former NASA engineer helped increase the speed of the skates. For the 2002 Winter Olympics, speedskater Chris Witty decided to take a chance and use the new polishing technique on her skates. Amazed at the difference it made in her speed, Witty used the newly-polished blades to speed past all the other competitors, victorious in the 1,000 meter race. Witty set a new world record and earned a gleaming gold medal. Other American speedskaters, using the new polishing method, also sped to victory.
It's not just Olympic athletes who benefit from NASA spin-offs. Some athletic shoes are made with the same technology used to make space suits. Some golf clubs are made with metals made for the Space Station. The design of the Space Shuttle's orange external tank has been used to make golf balls fly with more stability. Even the Olympic Stadium in Rome and other sports stadiums have "moonsuit" roofs made with the fabric used to create spacesuits.
NASA technology can be found in many areas of our lives. And, it may be one of the tickets to the gold at the next Olympics.