March 2019, Articles

Cutting edge innovation to help Kiwi Paralympians

New high-tech prosthetics give two top Kiwi Paralympians instant results

Two of New Zealand's top Paralympians have teamed up with a local 3D printing company to extend their abilities in their respective sports.
play
play

Javelin thrower Holly Robinson and sprinter and long jumper Anna Grimaldi have partnered up with Zenith Technica to produce personally tailored prosthetics.

“I’m so thankful that I’ve got this [prosthetic], it’s allowed me to train so much more in the gym to do a lot more things and that was through High Performance Sport,” said Robinson.

High Performance Sport New Zealand took designs to Kiwi company Zenith Technica who build similar titanium components for Formula 1 and America’s Cup teams.

Zenith Technica production manager Peter Serfont says each prosthetic is designed specifically for each athlete’s personal needs.

“Holly and Anna both have arm impairments but to different extents so while the design was quite similar, it was customised for the individual so they each have a different assembly of components,” said Serfont.

Grimaldi and Robinson have used their new prosthetics for six weeks, neither athlete will use them in competition but have revealed they are seeing instant results in training.

“I’ve come off a really good competition in Dubai where I threw a PB and a New Zealand record so I am looking to back that up and looking for some more solid performances,” Robinson said.


Original Post:
 TV One News