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.

GIANMARCO MAGNANI

Many Small Steps

In 2012, NASA teamed up with roboticist Peter Neuhaus to build an exoskeleton for space exploration. Out of that project grew Mina v2, a robotic suit that moves paraplegic competitor Mark Daniel across the floor. By operating a joystick and a button on his crutches, Daniel can manipulate the six actuators positioned along his legs. Daniel won’t be traveling to Mars anytime soon, but he will be walking down ramps, over stones, up stairs, and across tilted pathways in the Cybathlon, bringing home silver in the exo contest.

GIANMARCO MAGNANI

Armed Force

When Claudia Breidbach noticed that no women were competing in the arm prosthetic event, she signed up. For years, the German skydiver has been jumping out of planes with a simple prosthesis. At the games, she used Touch Bionic’s i-Limb Quantum model (shown)—five indepen­dently articulated fingers controlled by muscle contractions in her remaining forearm—for decidedly more earthbound tasks: assembling a puzzle, slicing a loaf of bread, and buttoning a blazer. Challenging the status quo ended up paying off: Breidbach came in fourth place.

GIANMARCO MAGNANI

Virtuous Cycle

Vance Bergeron biked over 4,000 miles a year before he was hit by a car on the way to work. Now tetraplegic, he can’t move his legs, has only partial arm control, and has to actively remind himself to breathe. But in the years since his accident, he has brought together an international team of engineers to develop the Carbon TetraTrike, a tricycle that electrically stimulates his muscles at just the right frequency and intensity to get him back on the road—in time for the Cybathlon’s 750-meter race. The bike pilot clocked in results that put the team in the top ten.