We've taken six of the world's top athletes,
to find out what it takes to make a true Olympian.
That's it, come on!
As we push their bodies to the max.
(ANATOMY OF A FIGURE SKATER)
Now, what we expect a figure skater
to be is number one - strong.
In addition to that, they need to be stable.
Often what they are performing is multiple skills,
back-to-back, and all of that is wrapped around an aesthetic.
Maé-Bérénice Méité
has been French national figure skating champion three times.
At her first Olympic Winter Games in Sochi,
Russia 2014, she placed tenth.
Maé's been skating since the age of five
and her physical strength and energetic routines
have made her one of the most popular
performers on the ice.
I think the typical body shape of a female figure skater
is actually very similar to that of a gymnast.
it is relatively short, it's very compact,
it tends to be light
because power to weight ratio is really important.
It's actually the ability to propel their own
body weight into the air.
We're really looking at a gymnast
but with the aerobic capacity of a middle-distance athlete.
My body type is completely different from the body type
you can see when you're watching figure skating.
I'm more muscular, more athletic,
so that's my strength and I try to play on that strength
to do some things other girls cannot really do.
We've brought Maé to Buckinghamshire New University
and its class-leading Human Performance Lab,
to analyse every area of her anatomy
and see just what makes her
one of her sport's stand-out competitors.
The Bod Pod will show us
just how muscular Maé really is.
By measuring the volume of air her body
displaces within the chamber, we can calculate
her body's true composition -
both her muscle mass and more importantly
her percentage of body fat.
OK, testing is complete.
Let's see what results we got this time.
You'll be pleased to hear that its just over 12%, 12.2%.
- You're very happy with that? - I'm very happy about that.
What fat is, is effectively non-functional mass.
So the less fat she has,
the more powerful she can become.
An Olympic female gymnast has a body fat percentage of 14.0,
an elite track cyclist 13.7, but Maé's 12.2% is astonishing,
less even than a world-class triathlete
or cross-country skier.
(POWER)
The vertical jump test is absolutely key
to figure skating.
What we expect to see with Maé,
is an exceptional vertical jump,
because it's indicative of power output, power production.
To perform the toe loops, axels, salchows
and lutzes of an Olympic routine,
requires a figure skater
to convert the explosive power of the lower body
into the perfect take-off,
to gain the optimum vertical height.
Jump upwards, as far as you can
and then land with both feet on the mat.
When you're ready!
Female figure skaters achieve a rotational speed of up to 300
revolutions per minute during their routines
in order to perform the high-scoring jumps
that will get them the top marks -
and these jumps need instantaneous power.
Your jump height was 45.1cm and the amount of time
that you spend in the air was 607 milliseconds.
They're both excellent, well done you!
Thank you!
She jumped vertically 45.1cm from a standing start,
now, that really is exceptional -
but it's exactly what she requires.
The higher she jumps, the greater the period of time
she has to execute the skill and that's going
to gain her more marks.
(SPIRO)
Lung function tests are really important,
particularly for figure skating.
What we are looking for is to make sure
that the lung function is both normal
but also looking to see if it is
above normal in terms of performance.
Winter sports athletes like skaters and ice hockey players
who train in cold, indoor environments,
experience higher rates of exercise-induced
asthma than most elite athletes.
The spirometry or lung function test will show us
just how efficiently Maé's respiratory system is working.
I'll ask you to wear this nose clip.
Take a deep breath.
Keep blowing, keep blowing, keep blowing,
keep blowing, keep blowing...
and stop when you're ready.
Deep breath.
Keep blowing, keep blowing, keep blowing,
keep blowing - and stop.
If we take a look at something like the peak flow,
which is actually the maximum flow rate,
she's got a peak flow which is 113% above normal.
So what we know about Maé,
is that her lungs aren't enormous,
because she's only 169cm tall, but they are functioning
well above normal.
(STABILITY)
One of the key tests we're going to do with Maé
is the knee stabilisation test,
and really what that tells us is Maé's stability under load.
Why does that matter?
Well, it's crucial in terms of execution of skill.
It's also about aesthetic,
it's about how that skill looks.
The more stable she is, the better it looks,
the higher the mark she will get.
Have you ever had any knee injuries before?
Yes, I had a tear in my tendon, and it's the right one,
so it's the one where I am landing all my jumps.
That's your dominant leg, as well?
Yeah, exactly.
So that was a little bit bothering me for years.
Now it's getting better, so I'll see today how it is.
For many elite athlete groups, the anterior cruciate ligament,
or ACL, is one of the most vulnerable parts of the anatomy
and an injury can mean many months
away from competition.
In your own time.
Female athletes are three to four times more likely
to suffer ACL injury than their male counterparts.
One more on the left when you're ready.
Hold that nice and steady for me.
The rapid decelerations, changes in direction
and the force of landing after multiple aerial movements
make figure skaters especially vulnerable to knee injuries.
Just step off and jump as high as you can for me.
That's it, and hold that.
So stability and control of the knee joint under load
is vital to keep Maé at the top of her sport.
Perfect, thanks very much. That's us done!
The maximum angle of Maé's knee abduction
or inward collapse of the joint,
measured across both her legs,
shows a remarkable level of muscular control
and balance - vital if she is to protect herself
against injury and to give her the physical platform
to perform her demanding routines.
Obviously she's been carrying an injury,
which affected her 2015 season, in the right knee.
But there's no evidence of that now.
Her left knee and her right knee are similar,
in other words they've got bilateral symmetry,
so she is stable in both knees.
It's very important to be strong enough everywhere
so then, you can protect your whole body.
Obviously, after skating I'll have to walk
and do everything I want to do,
so I have to take care of my body now
so then in the future I'll be able
to do whatever I want.
(UP CLOSE)
When I first started
I just really liked the fact
that we can go fast,
and it's cool because I am by myself and I can fly
and that's awesome.
Maé-Bérénice Méité!
During the Olympics, you know,
its like only every four years,
so not everyone gets the chance to go there,
so just being here was like a big step for me.
It's a mix of excitement and you're like a little child
for two days during the event and that's amazing!
If I have a medal from the Olympics
I'll be very happy
no matter the colour of the medal,
and I want to be remembered
as the smiling, crazy, maybe pretty,
I don't know, figure skater,
and I think that would be great!
(COGNITIVE)
CogniSens NeuroTracker
is really a test of decision-making,
and it's decision-making under pressure and at speed.
Fundamentally, it is the link between
eyes, brain and the hand -
everything that a figure skater needs.
In the short programme, Maé has to perform seven mandatory
elements - jumps, spins and steps,
all in less than three minutes.
Cognitive control and focus is vital
to maintain the concentration that delivering
an Olympic-level routine demands.
We're surrounded by the public, the judges
the photographers, the TV, the cameras.
You have to be focused
for two minutes 50 and four minutes,
so this test is going to be very, very interesting.
OK, here we go.
The CogniSens NeuroTracker requires Maé to follow
a series of objects in 3-D space, and then to identify
them among other similar-looking shapes.
- 7-8-6-2 - 7-8-6-2.
OK, well done, and again.
This tests Maé's ability to focus
on precise visual targets and to block out distractions,
a crucial skill she needs when skating in the intense
pressure of elite competition.
3-6-5-4.
OK, that's great.
How did you find that?
It was really interesting.
You started off here at 0.94 and made an improvement to 1.36
in your second trial, and then a slight improvement to 1.46.
So that's a good first attempt, well done!
- Not bad! - That's very good!
If we take a look at elite ice hockey players, for example,
they score 1.29 on average on this test.
Now, Maé scored 1.25. Now, that's not unusual
to see that type of comparison
because they're trying to make very rapid decisions
under extreme conditions.
Decision-making is everything and Maé has that
in absolute bundles.
You can be good at training,
if your head is not following, you won't succeed.
So the biggest issue for most of the girls, actually,
it's in here.
(VO2 MAX)
Now, the interesting thing about the VO2 Max test,
which is a measure of aerobic capacity,
in other words, aerobic endurance,
you would think isn't important to figure skating -
but when you look inside the sport, what you realise
is that Maé has to execute highly-technical skills
with pinpoint accuracy
and maintain that through a programme
that lasts in excess of four minutes.
Now that puts her into the realm
of elite middle-distance athletes.
Maé's ability to perform multiple aerial moves,
rapid and complex combinations and deliver a fast,
fluid and precise performance
requires real aerobic capacity -
but just how much can she endure
before total fatigue takes over?
Three, two, one, next stage.
You're doing really well, keep it up!
Maé is pushing her body to the max.
As the gradient increases and her heart rate rises,
her reserves of stamina are being tested like never before.
You really need to focus now, Maé,
keep breathing, keep breathing! Focus!
Deeper breaths, that's it!
Really good, push, push, push!
Focus, deeper breaths!
Well done, Maé, well done!
She scored 51.1 millilitres per kilogram per minute.
Now, that is a very, very good score,
particularly when it is almost unexpected
for a figure skater - and why is that?
It's because she's required to execute those skills not once,
but multiple times during the free programme.
Maé's astonishing physical response to our tests
has shown the truly elite athlete
that lies behind the perfect
artistic performance on the ice.
Push, push, push!
Mental agility and physical strength,
combining to make one of winter sport's ultimate competitors.
She is incredibly powerful,
she has a massive vertical height jump.
She's also incredibly stable when she is jumping
and then to complete this package,
her endurance capacity,
her VO2 Max, is exceptional
and that is why she is one of the best figure skaters
on the planet.
I just have to perform and do my best
and try to show the world
who I am and how I feel.
You can feel the audience is with you
and, like, clapping and screaming
and being like, "Oh, my God, that's crazy!"
That's the feeling I like the most,
because it's just unbelievable.