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Doctor Ice

1. Director: Stefano Tealdi
2. Scientific Advisor: Dr. Steve Haake
3. Editor: Marco Odetto
4. Photography: Sandro Defrino, Piero Balla, Ben Bevan-Pritchard, Paolo Rapalino
5. Sound: Fabio Vania Coggiola
6. Production: Stefilm
7. Italy
8. 58 min.
9. 2008

Kristan Bromley worked for 12 years as an engineer at British Aerospace. Now he is an Olympic skeleton athlete and won the World Cup in 2005 by racing at 130 km/h on a sledge he himself had designed and built. “Doctor Ice”, as the British media call him, builds his success on scientific research, technology, design, virtual training using specific software and, of course, his athletic gifts.
To Doctor Ice, training on the track and scientific research are two sides of the same coin: he uses computer simulations and 3D analysis techniques to enhance both his athletic preparation and the response of his equipment, the aerodynamics of his posture on the sled when racing, and the aerodynamics of the sled.
This documentary follows Kristan from his development of the first sled to his current strategies, which include use of the “capture motion system”, the same as is used in Hollywood movie studios to produce animated films. With the help of science and technology, Kristan and his team challenge countries that have a natural advantage in winter sports: all this is done to gain the few hundredths of a second that could earn him a medal in the forthcoming Olympic games in Vancouver. Moreover, Sheffield Hallam University uses the results of his work to develop equipment and processes that can be useful to society. With his achievements, Doctor Ice puts science at the service of sports and sports at the service of science!