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Coordinating Vancouver: How the Winter Olympics Are Timed

by Caleb Johnson on February 27, 2010 at 04:30 PM


Timekeeping has moved past the simple stopwatch and thumb, and this year's Winter Games makes no exception. According to Wired, over 650 Omega employees and volunteers ensure that times and measurements are as accurate as possible, and the timing company spent six years prepping for Vancouver, refining and setting up the complex network of clocks and cameras essential to the competition. (Check out the video after the break.)

In ski jumping, for example, four cameras are connected to an image analysis program, which is able to determine the distance of a skier's jump within 10 to 20 centimeters (well under the half-meter required by Olympic rules). The starting gate, which sends a signal to start a chronograph, is even powered by the force from the skier's boot at takeoff. Moving away from the downhill slopes, cross-country skiers carry a small GPS device to track their progress during the event. Perhaps the coolest innovation, though, is the LED starting "gun" used in speed skating events. The gun sends a signal to the venue's sound system, which broadcasts the sound of a pistol firing through the speakers.

While digital tech often makes calls easier for judges, we wonder, what happens when one of these machines fails? Surely, there are backup systems in place, but if a result or score is fudged due to a technological failure, you can expect the backlash to come faster than a Sidney Crosby slapshot. [From: Wired]

Tags: camera, clock, gps, olympics, omega, skiing, sports, time, top, vancouver, winterolympics2010

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