New devices and systems being developed to enhance sport and athleticism are drawing criticism for tilting the playing field
Lance Armstrong's seventh Tour de France victory this summer came on a bike stiffened with boron strips. Roger Federer used a tennis racket containing nanotubes to win his third straight Wimbledon title. And Tiger Woods' tenth major triumph at the British Open in St Andrews came when the sport is fighting over the super-advanced flight of modern golf balls.
With pressure on broadcasters to win viewers, athletes to scale greater heights and on umpires and referees to eliminate officiating mistakes, technology in sport is becoming all-pervasive. But its attraction lies in the eye of the beholder.
Hawk-Eye, a technology developed by British-based Hawk-Eye Innovations to track ball flight in cricket and tennis, is a case in point. It is credited with increasing the popularity of cricket in Britain, where it is has been used on Channel 4's coverage since 2001 to assist in analysis of leg before wicket decisions.
The technology is also used by the BBC and ESPN to enhance Wimbledon tennis coverage, again to much critical acclaim.
But when calls intensified for the technology to be used by tennis umpires for instant replays following questionable line calls, the technology became the subject of division.