Scand J Med Sci Sports 2012: ••: ••–•• © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S doi: 10.1111/sms.12007 Aerodynamic drag is not the major determinant of performance during giant slalom skiing at the elite level M. Supej1,2,3, L. Sætran4, L. Oggiano4, G. Ettema5, N. Šarabon2, B. Nemec6, H.-C. Holmberg3,7 1Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia, 3Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre, Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden, 4Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 5Department of Human Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 6Department of Biocybernetics, Automatics and Robotics, Josef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 7Swedish Olympic Committee, Stockholm, Sweden Corresponding author: Hans-Christer Holmberg, Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre, Mid Sweden University, 83125 Östersund, Sweden. Tel: +46 70 4058960, Fax: +46 63 165740, E-mail:
[email protected] Accepted for publication 12 September 2012 This investigation was designed to (a) develop an indi- tiplied by cross-sectional area as a function of shoulder vidualized mechanical model for measuring aerodynamic height was established for each skier (r > 0.94, all drag (Fd) while ski racing through multiple gates, (b) P < 0.001). Skiing velocity, Fd, Et, and Ed per GS turn estimate energy dissipation (Ed) caused by Fd and were 15–21 m/s, 20–60 N, -11 to -5 kJ, and -2.3 to compare this to the total energy loss (Et), and (c) investi- -0.5 kJ, respectively.