How sport manufacturers are keeping their athletes cool in soaring heat

Temperatures at sporting events have been soaring over the past couple of years. Whether it is footballers wilting under the North American sun at the World Cup or tennis players collapsing on the courts at Roland-Garros, keeping cool has become an increasingly  important element of a sportsperson’s arsenal.

Unsurprisingly then brands are racing to show that they are best-equipped to set their athletes up for success in the hot temperatures. While Wimbledon’s Centre Court and Court One offer a roof and air conditioning for if temperatures rise –  helping insulate the very best players from extreme heat – the outside courts are set to get warmer as temperatures trend back into the 30s for the second week of the Grand Slam.

When Jannik Sinner, who has notably struggled to play at higher temperatures throughout his career, walked out for his first round match on Centre Court against Miomir Kecmanovic, he was wearing Nike’s Radical Airflow jacket, which is designed to help more air flow on to the skin in order to cool the player down. Adidas have developed their own technology, called Climacool, which is focused on sweat-wicking, something which it becomes harder for the body to do as it heats up.

“Temperature regulation is a key performance area for us,” explains Margherita Raccuglia, Adidas’s Global Director of Innovation Athlete Performance. “When body temperature goes up, either because of the environment or because of the intensity of the game, it can have a negative impact on the performance. 

“We started to think about how to maximise sweat and temperature management with apparel technologies. Sweat production and evaporation is the main avenue when it comes to cooling during sport. We knew that one of the biggest challenges was the accumulation of the sweat in the garment, and then the sticking of the garment to the body. Once the fabric is completely saturated, not only does it reduce the cooling efficiency of sweat evaporation, but it also creates restriction to the body, so it affects performance.

“With that in mind, the idea was to create a technology that can really maximise evaporative cooling and minimise the accumulation of sweat.”

To develop this technology, Adidas headed to the lab where they used a climatic chamber to simulate different environmental conditions. They were able to adjust temperature humidity and then measure body temperature, skin temperature, relative humidity and how athletes reported that they felt.

Part of the challenge is to also adjust these technological developments so they fit with what athletes are actually wearing for the sport they are participating in. Tennis has its own particular demands as it does not have the same compulsory dress requirements that other sports, such as football, do. WhileWimbledon might be known for its strict colour code, players have the option of wearing shorts, skirts or dresses, with sleeves or without. 

“There’s an art to it and there’s the science part of it,” says Annette Steingass, Senior Director of Specialist Sports. “You want to remove distractions, you want to enable maximum range of motion, and those are all considerations in any high-performance collection that we create.

“We address this in multiple ways. For example, we add additional panels in the garments that enable a large range of motion in the arms.”

“They call [tennis] the fashion week of sports. The outfits get discussed, the influencers comment on it. It’s really that sweet spot where these worlds merge – high-end performance innovation meeting the ultimate in style. To bring those two worlds together – that’s really where the magic happens.”

Tennis also has a lot of variability in terms of the conditions in which you play.

“You don’t know how long a match can last. You don’t know what time of day you’re playing. So you need to make sure you’re providing the athlete with an outfit they can really be their best in.”

Athletes are very much creatures of habit so brands face a challenge in convincing them to adopt new styles and technology. Fortunately Adidas have been able to pull a handy trump card when it has come to the adoption of Climacool. When Sabastian Sawe became the first man to run a marathon under two hours in a record-eligible race, he was wearing a Climacool singlet.

“[Athletes] have rituals they’re used to and feel comfortable with,” says Raccuglia. “Introducing something new always comes with that familiarisation phase, and getting trust into the product.

“Seeing other athletes coming and adopting the technology gives them a sense of confidence. When Sabastian Sawe wore one and broke sub two…it’s an encouragement across all of them.”

One of Adidas’s most popular markets so far has been Hyrox, a cross-fit style competitive gym-based sport in which men tend not to wear shirts, but an Adidas athlete has chosen the Climacool shirt. From professional athletes to the everyday amateur, brands that can show they can help deal with higher temperatures are going to become increasingly popular, with extreme heat only continuing to affect sportspeople of every level.

Photograph by John Walton/PA Images via Alamy