Gideon Ariel (Hebrew: גדעון אריאל; also "Uriel," born April 27, 1939) is an Israeli authority in biomechanics, as well as a former Olympic track and field athlete who competed in the discus throw.

[1] His father, the son of a rabbi, was born in Poland in 1904, and made aliyah (moved to Israel, then known as Palestine) in 1922, and ultimately became a hotel manager and then head of customs at the Jaffa port, as well as a member of the Stern Gang.

[1] Ariel competed for Israel at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, at the age of 21, in the Men's Shot Put, and came in 22nd with a distance of 14.65 meters.

Ariel competed for Israel at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, at the age of 25, in the Men's Discus Throw, and came in 26th with a distance of 46.12 meters.

Uses of anabolic steroids in sports are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain an advantage conventionally considered "cheating.

"[4] Ariel developed a business of biomechanical services, ranging from physical rehabilitation to personalized athletic instruction, working with athletes including Olympic champion discus thrower Al Oerter—who after working with Ariel, at age 43 threw a discus 27 feet farther than his best gold medal performance.

Ariel's analysis had shown that Mac was generating speeds up to 30 percent faster in one segment of the throw than anyone else, but it was dissipating it at the end.

According to Ariel, the computer "found that with a perfectly timed summation of his forces, Wilkins could throw the discus 250 feet."

After implementing Gideon's advice, Mac Wilkins went on to break the world record and win the Olympic gold medal at the 1976 games in Montreal, Canada.