Olympic Medalists Are Rocking This $200 Cooling Headband... But Does It Really Work?

As the world's top marathoners lined up for the Olympic showdown in Paris last month, one man stood quietly among the crowds at the 3K mark, watching a live stream over a stranger’s shoulder.

That man was Jake Leschly, CEO of a tiny startup called Omius. His company makes a space-age-looking cooling headband, and he was about to have a big moment.

“They’re introducing Kipchoge,” Leschly says. “And I’m thinking, wait a second he’s wearing it!”

Originally seen in triathlon circles back in 2019, the Omius headband had a quiet start, paused during the pandemic, and then relaunched in 2022.

It quickly found favor with triathletes: at last year’s Ironman World Championship in Kona, 43 of the 53 female pros were wearing it, plus hundreds of age-groupers.

But the real breakout came during the Olympic marathons. Alongside Kipchoge, stars like Sifan Hassan, Hellen Obiri, and Bashir Abdi also wore it.

The result? Omius sold half as many headbands in the week after the Games as they did in all of 2023.

How Omius Got Athletes On Board

Omius’s marketing approach is pretty simple: let athletes try the gear. No sponsorships, no contracts just free samples. Leschly says they’ve never paid anyone to wear it, not even Kipchoge or Hassan.

‍The idea is that performance will speak for itself.

But this raises a familiar concern. Athletes are no strangers to placebo-powered gear. Remember those plastic PowerBands that claimed to improve balance and strength?

That’s why a new peer-reviewed study independent of Omius offers an interesting perspective.

Conducted by a Canadian research team at Université de Sherbrooke, the study was led by pro triathlete Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches and thermal physiology expert Éric Goulet, and recently published in the Journal of Thermal Biology.

Important context: Omius had no involvement in the study and, in fact, didn’t love the results.

Leschly shared a six-page critique written by Omius founder and headband inventor Gustavo Cadena. Still, the data might be worth a look.

The Cooling Concept Behind Omius

So how does this futuristic headband actually work?

The secret lies in surface area. The headband contains 20 modular cooling units, each with nine tiny towers made of porous, heat-conductive graphite.

These mini towers boost the surface area of your forehead by five times, giving evaporation a larger platform to work its magic.

To keep it effective, the headband needs to stay wet and exposed to airflow meaning outdoor running is ideal, while indoor use requires a fan. It can even be fitted into visors and caps.

But cycling outdoors is a no-go; the cooling units aren’t impact-resistant enough.

The science behind it evaporative cooling is well-established.

And it’s clear the band gets cold. When Desroches created a placebo version for the study using 3D-printed fake cooling blocks, he had to refrigerate it just to mimic the real thing’s chill when placed on the forehead.

What the Research Actually Shows

In the study, 10 runners completed two treadmill tests in a heat chamber (95°F and 56% humidity). Each session involved 70 minutes of steady running followed by a 5K time trial. One test used the real Omius headband, and the other used the fake version.

During the long run, the real headband cooled the forehead and made athletes feel more comfortable.

However, it didn’t reduce core temperature or heart rate. And when it came time for the all-out 5K? No measurable differences in performance, comfort, or physiological stats.

That might seem like a deal-breaker, but it’s not so clear-cut.

Cadena argues the headband wasn’t re-wetted during the 5K, unlike during the longer run, which could explain why it lost effectiveness. Also, with only ten participants, it would take a massive improvement to detect statistical significance.

Even Desroches admits that feeling cooler even if only slightly could give athletes a psychological edge.

But one thing is clear: this isn’t the next carbon-plated shoe revolution. It didn’t win gold for Hassan.

Can You Get the Same Effect for Less?

If you’re not ready to shell out $200 for a headband (available on Amazon here), there’s some good news. Another recent study suggests you might get similar benefits from... simply pouring water on yourself.

In research published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13 runners performed a 10K time trial followed by a moderate 60-minute run in 87°F heat. In one of the trials, runners doused themselves with water every 10 minutes.

As with the Omius test, skin temperature dropped and runners reported feeling cooler. But in this case, they also ran 1% faster during the 10K a statistically significant improvement.

Of course, that study didn’t use a placebo, so we can’t compare the two results directly. Still, both methods clearly help athletes feel cooler. Whether that translates to better times? That’s still up for debate.

So... Is the Headband Worth $200?

If you’re intrigued by high-tech gear and like the idea of staying cooler during a hot race, the Omius headband might appeal to you. Just keep expectations in check.

t won’t magically slash your race times, but it might help you feel better when the heat is on.

And if you do buy one, take this advice from the research: keep it soaked and maybe splash yourself a bit too.