This category includes all sports innovations developed by DSM for the world of top-level sports, notably projects in the fields of nutrition and performance materials. In the context of DSM’s partnership with the Dutch Olympic Committee/Dutch Sports Federation (NOC*NSF), various innovation projects have been defined on the basis of talks with national coaches, athletes and medical support teams. The combination of DSM’s knowledge and know-how in these fields with NOC*NSF’s experience in sports represents the ultimate win-win situation for creating new breakthrough innovations.

For Beijing 2008 the following innovations have been developed:

LAFTI® Probiotics
The latest product that DSM has been developing in collaboration with NOC*NSF is LAFTI®. This drink contains probiotics: living bacteria that have a beneficial effect on the intestinal tract. LAFTI® should help the Olympic athletes to boost their natural resistance and maintain a well-balanced intestinal flora. The innovation is a response to concrete requests from Dutch athletes. Top athletes are often prone to develop intestinal complaints and a weakened immune system, particularly in extreme weather conditions such as in China. These physical complaints can have an adverse effect on their performance. ( Press release).

PeptoPro® powder
PeptoPro® powder is the latest form of PeptoPro®, a casein hydrolysate (a protein cut into fragments) that ensures a quick recovery after an intense training effort. Following the successful launch of the PeptoPro® drink during the Athens Olympics in 2004, DSM has worked hard to further improve the product. These efforts have resulted in the present powder form with a strongly improved stability. Athletes can use the powder to prepare the sports drink at the place and time at which they need it. Many of them had expressed this wish. The powder is the solution to the problems associated with the transport of ready-made packs of PeptoPro® that athletes and their support staff used to have. Moreover, cold storage (which, in the case of the liquid product form, would be an absolute requirement during the summer period in China) is no longer necessary.

PeptoPro® has two functions; in the first place, it promotes the transport of sugars into muscle tissue, where they are converted into glycogen, which is an important energy store for the muscles. Secondly, it stimulates the synthesis of muscle protein after heavy exercise. For more information on how PeptoPro® works, please visit the PeptoPro® website. ( Press release).

Cooling products
The heat and high humidity that are characteristic of Chinese summers have a large impact on the human body. Effectively cooling the body under such conditions can greatly enhance an athlete’s ability to deliver a top-level performance and to recover quickly from this performance. As part of its Olympic Innovation Program, DSM is developing an all-round cooling concept that will be made available to the Dutch Olympic athletes for the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing.

During the previous Summer Games in Athens in 2004 the Dutch Olympic rowers already used special cooling products. In the run-up to Beijing 2008, DSM and NOC*NSF in close consultation with athletes and their coaches have looked at possibilities for improvement and have developed and tested various new prototypes. This has resulted in the “mobile” and fully modular comfort cooling system that was presented on December 4, 2007 in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. ( Press release).

Innovations in sailing
The innovations in sailing that were presented at the Hiswa boat show in Amsterdam on 4 March 2008 are another milestone in a series of innovations developed by DSM for the Olympic Games in collaboration with NOC*NSF and the Dutch athletes.

The new 470 boat has been built using specially designed DSM composite laminates which has resulted in a very rigid construction at a minimal weight. This material has been developed based on the know-how gained in the construction of longer and stronger blades of large windmills. This construction ensures that the boat lies very solidly in the water in the choppy waves typical of the waters of Qingdao where the Olympic races will take place. This minimizes the loss of energy and mainitains the velocity of the boat.

The rigging of the Olympic boats is another important element in the innovation program of DSM and NOC*NSF. With the motto ‘only the best is good enough’ in mind, all Dutch boats that will compete for Olympic medals in August on the shores of Qingdao will be fitted with special lines with Dyneema® in the apt colors red-white-blue and orange. This is the best in rigging currently available in sailing. ( Press release).