Counting split seconds a huge job

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/02/2010 (5906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Measurements of time incomprehensible to the average person are the lifeblood of an Olympic Games.

Margins as slim as a hundredth of a second, even as minuscule as one thousandth of a second, can make the difference between being a medallist or simply a competitor.

During the Vancouver Winter Olympics athletes, coaches and fans will look anxiously at scoreboards for a time or ranking. What they see can mean triumph or heartbreak.

For Christophe Berthaud, who wins or loses is inconsequential. What matters most to the general manager of Swiss Timing is that the results are accurate and precisely recorded.

"It’s really about delivering a service," Berthaud said in a recent phone interview from Switzerland. "The basis of the service is the accuracy of the system and the reliability of the system, which is basically the same things you are asking for in your watch."

The Vancouver Games will be the 24th time Omega will serve as the official timekeepers at an Olympics. Much has changed since 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where a lone technician brought 27 stopwatches to time events.

Swiss Timing, which does work at the Olympics for Omega, will have a staff of 245 technicians and engineers at the Games. They will work with 300 volunteers and over 220 tonnes of equipment to provide the timing and results.

Several technological innovations — some simple in design, others that would make James Bond jealous — will be unveiled at the Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

Global positioning technology will follow the competitors in cross-country skiing. Radio frequency identification transponders will be used in ski cross and snowboard cross. Alpine skiers will launch through a newly designed start gate while an electronic starting pistol will make its debut at speedskating.

A high-definition judges’ scoring system will be employed at figure skating. A high-definition video replay system will be used at short-track speedskating.

While the gadgetry is impressive, most will likely go unnoticed by the average person.

"Except when it’s a big piece of hardware and a different shape than people are used to seeing, most of the things are not seen by people," Berthaud said.

"It’s true about all technology. Very few people have a clear idea of what we are doing or how things they see on television are actually happening."

Berthaud declined to say how much it costs to provide timing for the Games.

"It is not a figure we can communicate," he said.

Cathy Priestner Allinger, executive vice-president of sport and Games operations for the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, said proper timekeeping is a foundation for sport.

"Timekeeping is absolutely critical to the success of any event where time is an important measure of the competition," said the former Olympic silver medallist in speedskating. "The accuracy, the reliability and dependability, it has to be 100 per cent.

"There is no room for error."

Berthaud said of all the winter sports, long-track speedskating presents the most challenges.

"This one can be tricky," he said. "We give results at one one hundredth of a second. Arrivals can be very tight. "

To aid in long track, radio transponders are used to accurately record time.

Five cameras are also employed to supply photos at the finish line.

"It is the same technology as we use in athletics," Berthaud said. "With special settings and special features adapted to the competitions."

The electronic starting pistol — which operates without powder or blanks — was developed out of necessity.

"We were using, until now, usual guns," Berthaud said. "You know how much it becomes difficult to travel with guns? You can imagine trying to enter a venue with a gun is a lot of burden."

The new device will still sound like a regular starting pistol and will make a flash.

During the Olympics, thousands of results will be recorded. Champions will be crowned and records set.

Berthaud wants the spotlight focused on the athletes. He knows what will make a perfect Olympics for him.

"If you don’t talk about us," he chuckled.

 

— The Canadian Press