UK rides to gold in women’s Olympic team sprint on partially 3D printed track bikes

At the Olympics, the height of human athleticism is on display. But in many of the sporting competitions it is not only human endurance, strength and talent that influences who wins: equipment also plays a big role. This may be the case in the recent Paris 2024 team sprint track cycling event, where Team Great Britain took home gold after breaking a world record at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. As it turns out, the bikes that rode to the finish line in record time integrate a number of 3D printed components optimized for aerodynamics and weight.

The parts, which include the crank, seat stay bridge, dropouts and seat post, were 3D printed by UK-based Renishaw, which is the official additive manufacturing partner of British Cycling. Renishaw worked in close collaboration with Lotus Engineering, Hope Technology and the British Cycling team in developing the track bike components specifically for Team GB’s athletes.

This is not the first time Renishaw has worked on Olympic track bikes: it also contributed 3D printed parts to Team GB’s bicycles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. “After Team GB brought home seven Olympic medals from the Tokyo Olympics, we were delighted to be asked to continue our partnership with the British Cycling team and develop components for the Paris 2024 bike,” commented Ben Collins, Lead Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer at Renishaw. “Bringing together the best of British engineering talent, we have been able to refine the design even further and showcase how additive manufacturing can deliver strong, yet lightweight parts for cycling, while demonstrating these benefits to other industries. Every bike is tailored to the measurements of the athletes, which is more difficult and costly using traditional manufacturing techniques, so it’s a great example of the role of AM in bespoke manufacturing.”

Additive manufacturing enabled the integration of unique internal structures and designs that were essential in reducing part weight while still maintaining strength and integrity. For example, Renishaw helped in the design of the titanium crank’s internal lattice structure, which minimizes the weight of the crank. Let’s not forget that at the Olympic level, even a fraction of a second can make a difference so having the most cutting-edge equipment or even a marginally lighter bike frame can mean the difference between the podium or no medal.

At the Paris 2024 Olympic games, Team GB, comprising Emma Finucane, Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant, won the women’s team sprint event by 0.473 seconds and set a new world record. “The Renishaw team has been incredibly reliable throughout the entire process of developing parts ahead of the 2024 Olympics,” said Oliver Caddy, Lead Project Engineer at British Cycling, ahead of the ongoing Olympic games. “It’s clear that they are as committed as we are to delivering excellence on this project. It’s also appreciated by the athletes that are working hard to ready themselves for their events in the summer.”

There has been a fair amount of 3D printing on show at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Perhaps most notably, organizers unveiled the world’s first 3D printed skate part, which is open to the public throughout the duration of the sporting event.