Considerations for Designing Sportswear for Low-Income Tropical Countries

Abstract

Heat illnesses are critical for endurance athletes living in tropical and developing countries. However, the requirements of these athletes have not been considered in existing sportswear. Therefore, this study aims to assess the perceptions of endurance athletes living in a developing and tropical country regarding cooling sportswear. Four focus groups were conducted with 20 Sri Lankan endurance cycling athletes. Participants desired cooling sportswear to dissipate heat effectively in a tropical climate and to support personalized cooling while blocking heat discomfort from external sunlight. They preferred uniformity and team representation in the cooling sportswear design, expressing their emotional expectations related to the culture. Furthermore, participants recommended utilizing local resources for producing high-performance cycling wear to cost-effectively fulfil their requirements. The climatic, cultural and economic factors identified in this study shed light onto sportswear design for athletes living in tropical and developing countries.

Keywords:

• endurance athletes
• cycling
• tropical climate
• cooling garment
• developing countries
• focus group
• low-resource regions

Acknowledgements

We thank the study participants for their insights.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tharushi Indeewari Wickramarathne

Tharushi Indeewari Wickramarathne is a PhD candidate at the School of Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. As a part of her PhD project, she has been developing cooling sportswear for endurance cycling athletes living in developing and tropical countries.

Abdullah Al Mahmud

Dr Abdullah Al Mahmud is the Deputy Academic Director Research Training and Associate Professor in Industrial Design at the School of Design of Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include codesign, digital health, human-computer interaction and design with and for marginalized communities in low-resource regions.