Gideon Ariel

Gideon Ariel
Gideon Ariel (1960)
Personal information
Native name
גדעון אריאל
National team Israel
Born (1939-04-27) April 27, 1939 (age 87)
Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Education
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight220 lb (100 kg)
Sport
Country Israel
SportDiscus and Shot Put
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • discus throw: 55.22 meters (1964)
  • shot put: 16.27 meters (1966)
Updated on 28 August 2016

Gideon Ariel (Hebrew: גדעון אריאל; also "Uriel," born April 27, 1939) is an Israeli authority in biomechanics, as well as a former Olympic track and field athlete who competed in the discus throw.

Early and personal life

Ariel was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. His father, the son of a rabbi, was born in Poland in 1904, and made aliyah (moved to Israel, then known as Palestine) in 1922, and ultimately became a hotel manager and then head of customs at the Jaffa port, as well as a member of the Stern Gang. His mother worked as the secretary to the Mayor of Tel Aviv. His parents divorced when he was ten years old. At the age of 11, he moved to a kibbutz. He served three years in the Israel Defense Forces.

He studied at the Wingate Institute in Israel, and later attended the University of Wyoming on an athletic scholarship, beginning in 1963 and graduating in 1966. Ariel obtained a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Exercise Science. He completed his graduate and post-doctoral work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he received a Ph.D. in Exercise and Computer Science.

Ariel and his former wife Yael Tzabar had a child, Geffen Olympia. He lived in Amherst, Massachusetts and Coto de Caza, California. He has three more daughters: Tova, Nomi, and Ilana Ariel.

Discus and shot put

Gideon Ariel bearing the Israeli flag

When Ariel competed in the Olympics, he was 6 ft (180 cm) tall, and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg).

Ariel competed for Israel at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, at the age of 21, in the Men's Shot Put, and came in 22nd with a distance of 14.65 meters. He was also the flag bearer for Israel at the 1960 Olympics.

Ariel competed for Israel at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, at the age of 25, in the Men's Discus Throw, and came in 26th with a distance of 46.12 meters. He was again the flag bearer for Israel at the 1964 Olympics.

His personal best in the discus throw was 55.22 meters, in 1964. Ariel's personal best in the shot put was 16.27 meters, in 1966.

Scientific career

Anabolic steroids

Ariel performed research in the use of anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids (AAS) or colloquially as "steroids" (or even "roids"), which are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. Uses of anabolic steroids in sports are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain an advantage conventionally considered "cheating."

Biomechanical performance optimization

Gideon Ariel at the Mexico Olympics 1968

Ariel developed a business of biomechanical services, ranging from physical rehabilitation to personalized athletic instruction, working with athletes including Olympic champion discus thrower Al Oerter—who after working with Ariel, at age 43 threw a discus 27 feet farther than his best gold medal performance.

Another of those athletes was Mac Wilkins. In 1975, the USOC had gathered 12 of America's best discus throwers to be filmed in action with high speed cameras. The footage was sent to Ariel's laboratory where he conducted his analysis on their performances. Wilkins commented on Ariel's assessment of his technique: "He pointed out that my front leg was absorbing energy that could go into the throw. I had to begin to change my whole conception of throwing I used to think I had to put as much of my speed in the direction of the throw." Ariel's analysis had shown that Mac was generating speeds up to 30 percent faster in one segment of the throw than anyone else, but it was dissipating it at the end. According to Ariel, the computer "found that with a perfectly timed summation of his forces, Wilkins could throw the discus 250 feet." After implementing Gideon's advice, Mac Wilkins went on to break the world record and win the Olympic gold medal at the 1976 games in Montreal, Canada.

He founded the Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley and Colorado Springs and became chairman of the U.S. Olympic Biomechanical Committee. In San Diego, he founded Ariel Dynamics to apply biomechanical concepts to sports performance.

Patents and inventions

Variable resistance exercising device

Variable resistance exercising device, 1976

An improved exercising device for exercising the legs of a user includes a frame member with a lever arm having one end pivotably attached thereto. The lever arm extends downwardly from the portion of the frame member to which it is pivotably connected, and a pair of foot-engaging force transferring members are mounted on the lower end of the lever arm. A cable has one end pivotably connected near the lower end of the lever arm, passes around an eccentrically mounted pulley and has its other end connected to weights. As the user lifts the lower portions of his legs, the lever arm is pivoted to pull the cable and the weights attached thereto, thereby strengthening the knee muscles of the user. The eccentrically mounted pulley varies the resistance to movement of the user's lower legs initially increasing the resistance and then decreasing the resistance in a sinusoidal manner as the lower legs are lifted to pivot the lever arm and lift the weights. Patent US 4256302 A, 1981.

Exerciser

An exerciser bar is supported for rotation and acts against a hydraulic cylinder with the angle of the bar and the pressure in the cylinder measured and fed to a micro computer which, using this input data, controls the cylinder pressure in accordance with a selected exercise program, the micro computer also providing outputs to displays so that the person exercising can monitor his progress. Patent US 4354676 A, 1982.

Passive programmable resistance device

Passive programmable resistance device, 1985

A passive programmable resistance device uses a closed loop feedback for controlling resistance to rotational or translational motion of an object. One or more actual parameters, such as force or position, are measured and compared with desired parameters. The differences are used to provide a control signal which controls the resistance to the movement of the object. Patent US 4544154 A, 1985.

Scientific publications

Publications related to anabolic steroids

Publications related to athletic shoe design

Publications related to athletics

Publications related to exercise equipment

Books

Gideon Ariel has authored two books detailing the events of his life and career. The book titled "The Oasis of Dreams, the Legend of Hadassim" reflects on events that transpired in Hadassim, Israel, a kibbutz that incorporated a unique educational system for children.

In his autobiography titled "The Discus Thrower and His Dream Factory", Ariel describes how one single throw of a discus in a competitive event saved him from a life as a juvenile delinquent and set him on the path to become a biomechanist.

Selected publications

  • Esquire's Olympics Preview: How to know A perfect performance when you see one. Esquire, 66, 1976. Astor, G.
  • Can the computer create superstars?. New England Sports Guide, July, 1976. Cole, M.
  • Dr. Ariel's revolutionary computerized biomechanics. Track & Field News, December, 1977. Hersh, B.
  • Want a better athlete? Now scientists can build you one. Us, May, 1977. Moore, G.
  • Gideon and his magic machine. Sports Illustrated, August, 1977. Moore, K.
  • In search of the optimal sprint. The New Englander, May, 1977. Rutstein, N.
  • The perfect swing. Golf, October, 1978. Barkow, A.
  • Computer helps design shoe that walks on air. Daily Hampshire Gazette, August, 1978. Cole, M.
  • Computerized footwear. Canadian Footwear Journal, August, 1978. Lloyd, S.
  • Can computers teach tennis. World Tennis, March, 1979. Amdur, N.
  • Anything you can do, computer whiz Gideon Ariel can help you do better. People, September, 1979. Kessler, J.
  • Can computers win gold medals?. New Scientist, July, 1980.
  • The high priest of biomechanics. USAir Magazine, October, 1980. Barkow, A.
  • Biomechanics in the service of athletes. Olympic Review, May, 1980. Coffrant, F.
  • Future shoe. The Runner, March, 1980. Conniff, J.
  • My coach, the computer. Miami Herald, Sports Extra, March, 1980. Gustkey, E.
  • Winners. OMNI, July, 1980. Mazur, S.
  • Sports scientists train athletes to defy old limits. Smithsonian, July, 1980. Stuller, J.
  • California dreaming'. The Olympian, May, 1981. Brassey, L.
  • No winning through witchcraft here. Express, July, 1981. King, P.
  • A laboratory for jocks. Discover, February, 1981. Schechter, B.
  • MODE: Sports. Sky-Delta Air Lines Magazine, July, 1982.
  • Leap ahead with biomechanics. Science Now, 1, 1982.
  • Anatomy of a motion. Passages, 1982. Bernstein, P.
  • Sports - Coto Research Center: athletics goes digital. PSA Magazine, May, 1982. Bisheff, S.
  • The human machine. Science Digest, June, 1982. Kluger, J.
  • Gideon Ariel reigns over biomechanics Xanadu. Sportstyle, January, 1982. Leivenberg, R.
  • Coached by computer. 321 Contact, October, 1982. Lyons, M.
  • No fault tennis calls. Discover, December, 1982. McKean, K.
  • Biomechanics - how computers extend athletic performance to the body's far limits. Popular Science, January, 1982. Ruby, D.
  • Electronics in action. American Way, November, 1982. Stewart, D.
  • Computer picture show. National Geographic World, December, 1983.
  • Computer - the games robots play are revolutionizing tactics and training. Sports Mirror, August, 1983.
  • The man behind the computer of the U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine Committee - person to person. Scholastic Coach, January, 1983.
  • Coaching Olympians by computer. Body in Motion, October/November, 1983. Walker, P.
  • The future of exercise equipment. National Trade Fitness Journal, Winter, 1983. Yessis, M.
  • Computer-built champions. Sports & Leisure, November/December, 1984.
  • Go for the gold. A+ Magazine, August, 1984. Barry, D.
  • The world according to Gideon. Sportswise, September/October, 1984. Condor, B.
  • Muscles by micro. Coaching Review, January, 1984. Gates, R.
  • The sporting life - dynamic duo Vic Braden and Gideon Ariel. Gentry, February, 1984. Handy, H.
  • Getting as fit as an Olympian. Family Computing, August, 1984. Pantiel, M. and Peterson, B.
  • Olympic coaching by computer. In Cider, April, 1984. Sheldon, K.
  • Enter the computerized competitor. World of Sports, July, 1984. Slon, S.
  • Touch of gold. Enter, July/August, 1984. Wilson, K.
  • The high-tech swing. Polo, May, 1985.
  • The Huffy Project: using computers to build faster BMX'ers. BMX Action, June, 1985.
  • Body building goes high-tech. IEEE Spectrum, May, 1985. Fischett, M.
  • The acrobatics of human motion. Orange Coast, August, 1985. Jacobs, C.
  • Ultra sports. OMNI, August, 1985. Teich, M., and Weintraub P.
  • The athlete of the future. Los Angeles Times Magazine, March 19, 1989. Loverock, P.

Television

Awards and honors

In 2012, Gideon Ariel was awarded the Geoffrey Dyson Award at the ISBS 2012 Conference.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Gideon Ariel Bio, Stats, and Results". Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "My Family, my Childhood and my School - Ariel Dynamics". Archived from the original on 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Anything You Can Do, Computer Whiz Gideon Ariel Can Help You Do Better". People.com.
  4. ↑ "The effect of anabolic steroids on reflex components". Journal of Applied Physiology. 1 June 1972.
  5. ↑ "Popular Science". Bonnier Corporation. 1 January 1982.
  6. ↑ Roach, Randy (2011). Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors: Volume II. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1467038416.
  7. ↑ "Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs".
  8. ↑ "Newsroom - Indiana State University".
  9. ↑ "The first biomechanical company in the world".
  10. ↑ "Patent US 4256302 A, Variable resistance exercising device". USPTO. 10 March 1976.
  11. ↑ "Patent US 4354676 A, Exerciser". USPTO. 13 October 1978.
  12. ↑ "Patent US 4544154 A, Passive programmable resistance device". USPTO. 26 April 1982.
  13. ↑ "Oasis of Dreams".
  14. ↑ "The Discus Thrower and his Dream Factory".