Left wheelchair racing pellet glove designed by Arielle Rausin
name: label: maker
content: Rausin, Arielle
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: 3D printed wheelchair racing glove made using a purple hard plastic. Black rubber and suede overlays for gripping the wheelchair rim are attached using contact cement. A black nylon band on the back of the glove helps secure the hand to the glove. Initially called the “Chief” and renamed the “Flat Glove,” this is a production model glove made by Ingenium Manufacturing featuring a cheaper universal design for athletes just getting into wheelchair racing. According to the Ingenium website, “The Flat Glove is a durable, flat surfaced glove designed for everyone. It's width gives the optimal pushing surface. These are great for an athlete who is first developing their stroke, or a seasoned athlete looking to transition from a harness glove [leather and rubber mitt glove] to a hard glove.” 3D printing technology was first applied to fabricating race gloves by para athlete Arielle Rausin. She replicated one she had laboriously molded by hand using melted plastic pellets. The printed gloves fit well and were considerably cheaper and easier to fabricate. When Rausin found her prototype gloves withstood the rigors of training, she used them to race the 2015 Boston Marathon. The 3D printed gloves were hard yet ultra-lightweight, qualities which improved Rausin’s technique, reduced impact and fatigue to her hand, and helped her race faster.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In 2003, Rausin, then 10 years old, was in a catastrophic car accident that paralyzed her from the waist down. She began wheelchair racing in 2012 and became a member of the Paralympic wheelchair racing team. As a college student enrolled in a maker class, Rausin, with inspiration and encouragement from coach Adam Bleakney, fulfilled a course assignment by replicating her handmade pair of $350 racing gloves. As a result of her success using this prototype as well as her teammates’ who also benefited in competition from using gloves she had custom fabricated for them, Rausin founded Ingenium Manufacturing in 2016 to produce 3D printed racing gloves for wheelchair athletes. Realizing children and athletes new to wheelchair racing may not have the money for a custom-made glove, Rausin designed and made commercially available this less expensive basic glove in several sizes and colors.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: name of sport
content: wheelchair racing
label: web subject
content: Adaptive Sports
label: web subject
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
label: See more items in
content: Sports & Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Arielle Rausin
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0203.05.02
label: accession number
content: 2021.0203
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0203.05.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: glove, wheelchair racing
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic; rubber; elastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: nylon (overall material)