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There was a controversy in curling a few years ago where some curling teams were using new brooms by a new company that had significantly better tech. It was so

There was a controversy in curling a few years ago where some curling teams were using new brooms by a new company that had significantly better tech. It was so good it made it unnecessary to have two sweepers. The resolution was to ban it and only allow brooms from certain manufacturers. It seems reasonable that these sports could narrow down the list of approved equipment down to a few approved suppliers every year. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1427-broomgate-a-curling-scandal https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1427-broomgate-a-curl...

alistairSH 2y ago
Shoes had a similar issue when Nike released their first modern super-shoe (Vaporfly, IIRC). The track and field body had to limit shoe sole height and the other brands had a lot of catch-up to do. Same for swimming with high tech, low drag, bouyant swimsuits. Again, the international body had to step in and ban some materials/designs to prevent domination by nations that could sink resources into the engineering.
- Gud 2y ago
  There is a big difference between banning certain technologies and mandating their use.
  - eitally 2y ago
    The point was that mandating the use of these new-tech options was cost prohibitive for many nations. $250-300 for shoes, $500+ for a speedsuit, etc.
notatoad 2y ago
same thing happens in cycling all the time too. the UCI bans new equipment all the time, and the rules for what is allowed are very strict, to the point where there's a limit on sock height. there is a limited list of frames that can be used in UCI races, including the olympics but rules around the type of equipment you can use, and the race host supplying specific equipment to all riders, is a very different thing.