Bridgestone tweaks equipment for athletes at Paralympic Games

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp. is “leveraging” its rubber, materials, and design expertise to enhance sports equipment used by some competitors at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Working with paralympic athletes in the US and Japan, the group said it developed various items of equipment using the same rubber found in its latest generation of tires.

Critical performance requirements, such as grip and durability of gloves and tires & components for wheelchairs, were initially identified.

The materials and designs used were then optimised to better meet the needs of athletes in sports like para-athletics, wheelchair tennis, and wheelchair rugby.

For instance, engineers at Bridgestone’s technology centers in Akron, Ohio and Kodaira City, Tokyo created rubber pads for various types of equipment.

Applications included wheelchair racing gloves, wheelchair rugby gloves, rubber hand rims for wheelchairs, rubber soles for prosthetic running blades, and wheelchair tennis tires.

Several Team Bridgestone ‘athlete ambassadors’ will be competing with some of Bridgestone’s rubber equipment at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

They include: Aaron Pike (para-athletics), Chuck Aoki (wheelchair rugby); Daniel Romanchuk (para-athletics), Manami Tanaka (wheelchair tennis), Susannah Scaroni (para-athletics), and Yukako Hata (para-triathlon).