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U.S. speed skaters ask to ditch Mach 39 racing suits, which have dragged down Under Armour stock

Neate Sager

When Canada speed skater Denny Morrison won silver in the men's 500 metres, it had a little something to do with the fact his contemporary Shani Davis was wearing a Blackberry Z10. Or its racing suit equivalent, brought to you by Under Armour with an assist from the good people at Lockheed Martin.

The U.S., typically a long-track lodestar, has yet to have an individual even place in the top five at the Adler Arena oval, let alone on the podium. Davis faded to eighth in the 500 where Morrison medalled. The poor results are being chalked up to the Mach 39, the so-called "the world's fastest speed skating suit" actually dragging down skaters, hurting their times. Under Armour also saw its stock take a 2.4 per cent hit during trading Friday, although overall the apparel maker has done very well across the past 12 months. The Americans have requested to switch suits before the long-track meet resumes on Saturday.

Here is Gizmodo, giving context to reports from the Wall Street Journal:

The suit has a major design flaw that slows the skaters down. It seems that vents on rear of the suit, put in place to allow heat to escape, actually allow air to enter—in turn creating drag. That keeps the skaters a little more upright than usual, meaning they can't quite reach maximum speed.

It doesn't take Olga Graf to know how heated it gets under those racing suits, so you can understand why they wanted to let the racer breathe, especially in the longer races.

Alas, it might have been overkill. The American team was very strong in qualifying and during th fall World Cup circuit before switching to the new suits. It's requesting to go back to the old ones.

[U.S. speed skating executive director Ted] Morris expects a ruling within hours.

"The general feeling from the athletes, it's pretty darn close to 50-50," Morris said. He wouldn't give any details of the top skaters' positions.

The team is currently split into two groups: those who want to stick with the current model and those who would revert to a suit they used while racking up victories throughout the fall. The alternate suit is also made by Under Armour. (Wall Street Journal)

Three weeks before the game, a Sports Illustrated write-up on the Mach 39 sounded like a mash-up of a Popular Mechanics review and a Penthouse letter from the era when there were still these bound periodicals called "magazines."

With an pinstriped artistic visual designed by Steve Chasezeyka to 'embody raw speed and power' found in America's hotrod culture, you'll actually see five different textiles over the course of the skin. The silver textile on the inner thigh reduces friction by 65 percent. The other four textiles spread across different parts of the body all have elements designed to achieve different results, Haley said. Engineered polyurethane shapes were placed in "critical areas" of the skin to disrupt airflow. A stretch zipper bypassing the throat and circumventing the body, extra breathability on the spine and moisture-wicking technologies round out the Mach 39. (Sports Illustrated, Jan. 16)

Extra breathability on the spin, eh? There it is.

The alleged tech fail isn't the only factor in poor U.S. start at the oval, but the U.S. not medalling is completely out of order. It sounds like there was an oversight with how speed skaters have that certain forward lean when they try to increase speed. It's a little hilarious to see such a tech fail.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.