Will Rio de Janeiro be ready for Team USA with the countdown showing just 100 days to go today? Probably not! But what is sure is that the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Team will be fast there no matter what, thanks partly to BMW’s carbon fiber know-how creating one hell of a badass wheelchair.
What BMW DesignWorks calls “a fully customized racing device” is an aerodynamically optimized carbon fiber speed machine fit to the athletes. It took more than a year to develop with the team, and marks BMW’s fourth technology transfer project, following the two-man bobsled which helped Team USA at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
(Team USA actually won zero gold medals in their BMW sled, but took home a silver and a bunch of bronzes. Still, “USA #3!” has a great ring to it.)
It’s also something that should make it to the next TRON movie as well. BMW will continue to work on its fine tuning, delivering the final prototypes to the team early in the summer.
This is so much cooler than my bike. Or really any chair I’ve ever sat in.