Meet the Competitors Who Dominated the First Cyborg Olympics

Caption: Caption: In the Cybathlon, pilots with complete spinal cord injuries take part in a bike race with the help of functional electrical stimulation.ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella Caption: Caption: In this team event, competitors use powered arm prosthesis to complete a series of tasks. Caption: Caption: Team Avalanche competes in the powered wheelchair race.ETH Zürich/Alessandro Della Bella Caption: Caption: Team Mahidol competes in the computer interface race.ETH Zürich/Nicola Pitaro Caption: Caption: Team Imperial GBR competes in the powered arm prosthesis race.ETH Zürich/Nicola Pitaro Caption: Caption: Team OssurPowerKnee competes in the powered leg prosthesis race.ETH Zürich/Nicola Pitaro Caption: Caption: A participant with limited mobility can climb steps with the help of an exoskeleton.ETH Zurich/Alessandro Della Bella Caption: Caption: Team Meltin competes in the functional electrical stimulation bike race.ETH Zurich/Nicola Pitaro Caption: Caption: Team Varileg competes in teh powered exoskeleton race.ETH Zürich/Alessandro Della Bella Caption: Caption: A competitor in the powered leg prosthesis race.ETH Zürich/Alessandro Della Bella In pop culture, cyborgs can fly, throw cars, and blow up buildings. Nobody did any of those things at the world's first-ever cyborg Olympics--the Cybathlon in Zurich, Switzerland, held earlier this month--but the action was just as miraculous for a different reason. Using the latest bionic technology, disabled competitors paired up with prosthetics developers to accomplish tasks ranging from bread slicing to bike racing. Of the 59 teams, these three triumphed and scored top marks.