The Olympic Games are full of "black technology", and even the smallest gap can be accurately presented
2024-08-16
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The Olympic Games are a fierce competition, a great contest, where victory or defeat is determined by a matter of millimeters. How can such a tiny gap be accurately presented in a very short time? High-tech timing equipment is the key to ensuring that the event is open, fair, and just.
Perhaps many people don't realize that in the vast Olympic system, swimming and speed climbing are the only two events where athletes can stop timing themselves. This means that athletes who have completed the competition need to tap the timing touchpad to stop the timing themselves.
“At the end of a swimming race, competitors can stop the timer by applying 1.5-2.5 kg of pressure to the touchpad at the end of the lane. In this extremely challenging sport, the touchpad is the only choice for accurate timing.” According to the Omega team that serves as the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, “This technology was first introduced to the Olympic Games in 1968. Since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the touchpad has also been introduced into rock climbing events and placed on the top of the rock wall.”
In addition to the touchpad, the "timing team" escorting the pool battle also includes quantum timers, ranking indicators and tracking systems. Among them, the quantum timer, which is equivalent to a modern stopwatch, has a resolution 100 times higher than previous devices, with a maximum error of only one ten-millionth of a second, and a five-fold increase in accuracy.
The new tracking system of the Paris Olympics uses image tracking cameras and amazing computer vision technology to present information such as the real-time position, speed, acceleration, deceleration, distance between athletes, number of strokes, etc. of athletes during the game. This full-time tracking information not only provides athletes and teams with practical data indicators for in-depth analysis of the game situation, but also effectively improves the TV viewing experience, allowing viewers to have better insight and judgment of the events they watch.
The purple track of the Stade de France also witnessed many fierce battles where "a little difference can lead to a big loss". In the men's 100m "flying man battle", Lyles and Thompson crossed the finish line side by side, with the former winning the championship with a slight advantage of 0.005 seconds by comparing the thousandths of a second. China's "flying man" Xie Zhenye, who unfortunately stopped in the preliminaries, was only 0.001 seconds away from qualifying.
How to accurately judge such a small gap? A new technology, the extreme light-sensing finish camera, is the answer. According to the Omega team, this machine is installed at the grandstand timing platform, facing the end of the track, and can capture 40,000 digital images per second, replacing the previous light-sensing finish camera that captured 10,000 digital images per second. The machine will capture the images and generate a composite photo, providing an effective basis for the referee to quickly determine the finish line result.
In addition to the camera at the finish line, the starting blocks at the starting point are also a key link in timing. It is reported that the starting blocks are equipped with embedded sensors to measure the pressure generated by athletes on the starting blocks 4,000 times per second. The detection system will send the pressure measurement results to the on-site computer synchronously to help the starter visually monitor false starts. According to the World Athletics Federation, the minimum reaction time is 100 milliseconds (1/10 second). Athletes who react less than this time are considered to have false starts.
At the same time, there is a speaker behind each starting block, which is connected to the electronic starting gun on one side of the track. When the referee pulls the trigger, the speaker will ensure that the athletes hear the starting gun sound at the same time, and the flash light will light up, and the starting signal will be transmitted to the timing device.
It is through a series of continuously optimized timing "black technologies" that the difference of a thousandth of a second can be accurately presented on the field. "Since the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, there have been too many milestone moments in the 92-year history of timing. In the late 1940s, electronic timing gradually replaced manual timing; the introduction of touch pads in swimming events in 1968 truly opened a new era of 'electronic timing'." Alan Zobrist, CEO of Omega Timing, said, "Since then, with technologies such as the finish line camera and photoelectric eye, the impact of human reaction time has been further reduced, making the competition fairer. By continuously upgrading the accuracy of timing equipment, from quantifiable events in racing to non-racing action scoring events, it provides fair and reliable guarantees for athletes' performance."
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Editor: Gu Miao Editor-in-charge: Shen Lei
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