Execution
The contract was awarded to a consortium of companies and knowledge institutions. Flanders' Bike Valley, an innovative business network supported by the Flemish Agency for Enterprise and Innovation, is driving the collaboration.
Cooling down during performance
In order to develop cooling jerseys that the Flemish athletes can wear during the races, Bioracer will focus on the thermoregulating properties that textiles can offer (various materials in various weaving patterns). Devan Chemicals will examine how chemical coatings can further increase the cooling effect of this textile. Naqi will strengthen the consortium with its expertise on cooling gels.
Cooling before, between and after the performance
To be able to cool down the Flemish athletes before, between and after the races in Tokyo, Inuteq will develop a new type of 'cooling vest'. This new type will cool the body better, more accurately and 'tailored to the individual athlete' and at the same time be significantly more practical to use than the existing ice vests.
Testing and validation
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is responsible for testing the cooling clothing on the athletes, both in 'fictitious' climate chambers and wind tunnels, and on the field during competitions. Not only will they quantitatively measure and validate the physical, cooling properties of the clothing, but they will also check how the athletes themselves experience the clothing and whether they feel good in it. After all, the psychological aspect also contributes to delivering top performances.
Kick-off on 25 January 2019
On 25 January 2019, the kick-off of the project, renamed 'Cold2Gold', took place. Over the course of 2019, work was carried out on the prototypes.
Tokyo 2020 postponed due to covid19 epidemic
Due to the covid19 pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed for a year.
Press conference following Tokyo 2021 on 19 May 2021
In the run-up to the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2021, Sport Flanders together with its partners presented the Gold2Cold project at a press conference on 19 May 2021 with speeches from Minister of Sport Ben Weyts, Minister of Innovation Hilde Crevits and Johan Bellemans, chief medical officer of Team Belgium. The report, including image fragments, can be found here.