Olympics timekeepers to get winner down to 3000th of a second

Atlanta, 1996: emotions and adrenalin ran high in the Olympic arena as two sprinters claimed victory in the women's 100 metres race -- and only the photofinish cameras could judge the winner.

Both American Gail Devers and Jamaican Merlene Ottey came in at 10.94 seconds, and when Devers was awarded the gold medal, Ottey understandably protested.

But to no avail, as images from the finishing line indicated that Devers crossed a five-thousandth of a second ahead.

The episode shows how accuracy is crucial to the smooth running of the Olympic Games. And Swiss watchmaker Omega, which holds the coveted role of official timekeeper, is constantly updating its technology to ensure the most accurate results possible.

Back in 1996, cameras were snapping 1,000 images per second.

At this Summer Olympics in Beijing, Omega will premiere the latest generation of digital cameras that snap three times that speed - 3,000 photos per second - to determine exactly when the athlete crossed the finishing line.

After all, not only would the difference of a thousandth of a second separate the gold and silver medal holders, it could even elevate one from being just a winner to a world-record holder.

Even today, there are times when athletes still contest their results, Christophe Berthaud, who is Omega's Olympic Manager, told AFP.

"'I had the feeling I was first but I came in third.' Yes, of course it happens.

"But they can come and see the images that we have taken, frame by frame, we'll show them exactly at which point the finishing line was reached," said Berthaud.

In Beijing, some 420 tonnes -- or the equivalent weight of a Boeing 747 -- of timing and scoring equipment have been fitted at stadiums and event sites.

Omega will also have some 450 technicians and engineers in place, as well as about 1,000 volunteers, to ensure that the clocks are ticking on time.

It is a far cry from the first Olympic Games in 1896 when judges turned up armed with their own stopwatches made by diverse watchmakers.

Several judges were assigned to each athlete then and, given that "not all judges have the same reaction time, or the same eye accuracy", an average of the timing was taken, Berthaud said.

"In swimming, for example, the judges are bending over the pool, over the waves and all that they are trying to evaluate when the guy has touched the wall.

"Some of these judges are old, some are young, some have water on their feet, so you see there are many factors that influence the way it was done," he said.

There was, in other words, plenty of human error that could be introduced in the timing of each competition.

Omega was first appointed official Olympic timekeeper at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, and has introduced several innovations in the subsequent seven decades that are now synonymous with sports timing.

One simple innovation at the pool was a box that activated all the chronographs at the same time at the start of the race.

"It seems so simple you wonder why people didn't think about it before," said Berthaud.

But the key was the so-called photofinish camera, which not just took timing but also photographs that showed at which point during the second, the athlete crossed the finishing line.

The first digital camera simplified things when it premiered in the games 12 years ago. No longer would assistants have to run rolls of film to be developed in the dark room.

But even as most human error has been removed from competitions such as races, marathons and swimming, the timekeeper is still introducing new innovations.

At Beijing, for the first time, GPS will be installed in race boats, thereby giving rowing enthusiasts more real-time information on the races.

"You can determine if the boat is going to break the record, when the team is putting in more effort, how the team is managing its energy, when is it saving energy," Berthaud said.

Another innovation will be the incorporation of GPRS technology to provide more timings during the marathon.

According to the regulations, the timekeeper has to provide timing for the marathon at intervals of every five kilometers and during the half marathon.

But with GPRS, it will transmit additional data via GSM for 26 more points during the marathon in Beijing.

At the next world championships, the timekeeper will also introduce starting blocks for swimming that be tilted at an incline as in 100 metre races, in order to give swimmers the best push off.

He acknowledged however, that even with most sophisticated equipment, things can still fall apart.

All it takes is a power failure or a simple wire trip.

"Yes it happens sometimes," he said.

So, three backup systems are in place.

And indeed, the third backup is simply what Berthaud calls 'manual time' -- the good old stopwatch.

© 2008 AFP

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