Should modern sport test not just natural talent, but also training methods and technology, or does that make competition unfair?

Although technology can be bought it doesn’t lessen the spirit of winning; rather, increases the stakes. When people have access to more opportunities and resources, they expect greater results. This is proven by the study of Hedonic Adaptation, where humans adjust to positive changes/opportunities and raise their baseline for satisfaction. This is very relevant to the sporting world because players are constantly improving and training more effectively with new technology so instinctively they are expecting to achieve more.

That being said, it also depends on the gap between first and second place. If the gap is significantly large people tend to say that it's only because of their technology access. If the gap was close though, that is when technology is taken out of the equation and it comes down to pure human strength and skill. Which has always been the main point of Olympics from the beginning.

However, in some sports like ice skating, the use of expensive technology does not make a significant difference. Ice-skating is more artistically orientated (how the skater moves their own body and what message/feeling those movements convey). That being said, in order to bring these performances to life, there is a lot of training that goes into it.

For example Ilia Malinin (the first person to land the first quadruple axel) needed extensive amounts of training and technology to improve his skill . He used sturdier and lighter skates which provided more powerful lifts when jumping and more support on the ankles during landing. When learning how to perform the quadruple axel Ilia used a pole harness training system which allowed him to practice the jump without high injury risk. He also used high speed video and motion analysis which helped his coaches study the jump and make from take off to landing to make adjustments to increase the accuracy of the jump.

In conclusion, I think that technology in modern times is beginning to play a bigger role in the sport. However, it doesn’t take away from the spirit of winning. It rather creates a more high intensity environment for athletes to strive to do the impossible.