This futuristic Nike speed suit has an opening for a ponytail

English middle-distance runner Keely Hodgkinson set a new meet record when she won the 800 meters at the all-female Athlos track meet in London on September 18, and she did it wearing a futuristic full-length speed suit with a hood, open back, and opening for a ponytail. Hodgkinson won the event with a time of 1 minute 56.4 seconds. It’s a punishing, all-out race over two full laps that requires a mix of speed and endurance; she took the inside lane during the first lap and pulled away from the pack beginning in the final backstretch and kept gaining. She finished a full two seconds faster than the runner-up. It was a dominating performance on its own, setting a stadium record by nearly seven seconds, and the getup, a one-of-one speed suit designed by Nike in partnership with Hodgkinson, looked similarly ahead of the pack. As the announcer said during the race, Hodgkinson was “looking like a superhero.” [Photo: Nike] The custom suit took roughly a year to materialize, Hodgkinson said after the race. It has openings at the underarms and back for thermo-regulation, and details like minimal seams and no closures to reduce air resistance. The delta-shape, 3D-printed devices on the sui…