Well, now that the opening ceremonies are mercifully over, it is time to get into the main attraction: the Olympic Games. I look forward to this every couple of years – because of course, I have to watch the Winter Games as well as the Summer. This year, however, I got to thinking about what makes the games tick and how they might have been different in the past.
One competition that is easily recognisable as having been changed drastically by technology is swimming. While the business of swimming is the same as it ever was, the means by which swimmers’ times are kept have changed greatly. When, I wondered, did those sensors at the ends of the pool become part of the game?
In swimming, touchpads were introduced by Omega at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. This “wet” run was used as a test of the Swim-O-Matic system before the Mexico City summer games in 1968, where they were used for the first time in Olympic competition. Electronic timing itself was first used in athletics events in the Olympics all the way back in the 1948 London Games, but it wasn’t until the 1968 Olympics (Grenoble/Mexico City) that electronic timing became the primary method of determining finish order – both in and out of the water.
The Omega website goes on to say that the original Omega contact pads went into production in 1962, having made the breakthrough of developing a sensor that would not be affected by splashing waves, but would accurately detect a human hand pressed against it. To this day, Omega is the only brand used for Olympic swim meet timekeeping.
The road to accurate timing, Carly notes, is paved with close calls that demanded better timekeeping. The 1960 Olympics in Rome featured a 100m freestyle that was mired in controversy as she notes and as is also noted in one competitor’s Wikipedia entry. When Lance Larson came from behind to take what to most eyes appeared to be the win, but that win was denied by the line judges of the time, even the timekeepers showed him with the faster time. Omega notes that in modern times, electronic cameras have confirmed their keeper’s accuracy, electronic starting guns that replaced the old firecrackers and start blocks that can detect false starts have made accuracy within fractions of a second the standard for Olympic racing.
So keep in mind as you watch this year’s games in London: you are most emphatically not watching your daddy’s Games.
Sasa, baada ya sherehe za ufunguzi kumalizika, ni wakati wa kuingia katika kivutio kikuu: Michezo ya Olimpiki. Mimi kutarajia hii kila miaka michache <unk> kwa sababu bila shaka, mimi kuwa na kuangalia Michezo ya Majira ya baridi kama vile majira ya joto. Hata hivyo, mwaka huu, nilianza kufikiria ni nini kinachofanya michezo hiyo iwe na matokeo mazuri na jinsi ilivyokuwa tofauti wakati uliopita. Mashindano moja ambayo yanaweza kutambuliwa kwa urahisi kuwa yamebadilishwa sana na teknolojia ni kuogelea. Ingawa biashara ya kuogelea ni sawa na ilivyokuwa wakati mwingine, njia ambazo waogeleaji huhifadhi nyakati zimebadilika sana. Nilijiuliza, ni lini sensorer hizo zilizo kwenye ncha za dimbwi zikawa sehemu ya mchezo? Katika mchezo wa kuogelea, touchpads zilianzishwa na Omega katika 1967 Pan American Games huko Winnipeg. "Mwaka 1968 ""Swim-O-Matic"" ilitumiwa katika michezo ya Olimpiki ya Mexico City." Wakati wa elektroniki ulitumika kwa mara ya kwanza katika michezo ya Olimpiki ya London ya mwaka 1948, lakini hadi Olimpiki ya 1968 (Grenoble, Mexico City) wakati wa elektroniki ulikuja kuwa njia ya msingi ya kuamua utaratibu wa kumaliza, ndani na nje ya maji. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""kitu cha kwanza cha Omega contact pads kilitengenezwa mnamo 1962 na ilifanya mafanikio ya kuunda sensor ambayo haingeathiriwa na mawimbi ya mtiririko, lakini ingegundua kwa usahihi mkono wa binadamu uliofungwa dhidi yake.""" Hadi leo, Omega ndiyo chapa pekee inayotumiwa kwa ajili ya kuweka wakati wa mashindano ya kuogelea ya Olimpiki. Carly anasema kwamba njia ya kupata wakati sahihi imefunikwa na matukio ya karibu ambayo yalitaka kuweka wakati kwa njia bora zaidi. Katika Olimpiki ya 1960 huko Roma, mashindano ya mbio za bure ya mita 100 yalipatikana katika utata, kama inavyoonekana katika orodha ya Wikipedia ya mshindani mmoja. Lance Larson alipokuja kutoka nyuma kuchukua kile ambacho kwa macho mengi ilionekana kuwa ushindi, lakini ushindi huo ulikataliwa na majaji wa mstari wa wakati huo, hata watunza-wakati walimwonyesha kwa wakati wa haraka. "Omega anasema kwamba katika nyakati za kisasa, kamera za elektroniki zimethibitisha usahihi wa kipa, bunduki za elektroniki za kuanza ambazo zilichukua nafasi ya makombora ya zamani na ""blocks za kuanza"" ambazo zinaweza kugundua kuanza bandia zimefanya usahihi ndani ya sehemu za sekunde kuwa kiwango cha mbio za Olimpiki." Kwa hiyo kukumbuka kama wewe kuangalia michezo ya mwaka huu katika London: wewe ni zaidi emphatically si kuangalia michezo ya baba yako.