Sports Goggles Are Key to Playing It Safe for Sochi Olympians
It’s time for the Winter Olympics again!
This year, in Sochi, Russia, the world’s best athletes will compete for gold across a number of sporting competition categories. But, one thing many of these athletes, especially those competing outdoors, will have in common is the addition of sports goggles to their team uniform.
In fact, many athletes, including bobsled and skeleton event drivers, are required to wear protective goggles. Others, like downhill skiers, ski jumpers, snowboarders and those competing in the biathlon will wear ski and snow goggles to help block glare, protect their eyes from the cold and snow, and to help their vision stay crisp and clear while they are hitting moguls or zipping past flags on the downhill slope.
Mountains are often very sunny places. Combine the bright sunshine with the snow and ice below and you have a recipe for tremendous glare that can make your eyes strain and tire easily. This is why most of the athletes’ goggles will be treated with an anti-glare or anti-reflective coating and will have UV protection built in to block the sun’s harmful rays. Some athletes lens tints will be so dark that you may not be able to see their eyes through the lenses at all.
Though it may seem like a simple pair of sunglasses would be all a skier (especially a cross country skier) or snow boarder would need, this just isn’t the case. Goggles designed for sports offer protection on the sides of your eyes as well as in front of your eyes which does a more effective job at keeping the cold and precipitation at bay when competing for the gold.
Where else will you see goggles at the 2014 Winter Olympics? Well, they may just show up on the basketball court or in the ice hockey arena too. Most athletes recognize how easy it is to get a corneal abrasion or a detached retina from a flying hockey puck or an elbow in the eye. Since great vision is key to an athlete’s performance, taking extra precautions and preserving their eyesight with protective goggles is in the best interest of their career and future.
Sports goggles aren’t just for Olympic-level athletes though. Many optometrists recommend wearing them– even if it’s just to your weekly pick-up basketball game or for your local soccer league games. Ask your America’s Best optometrist if goggles are right for your activity and check out the full selection of rec specs at your closest America’s Best retailer.
