Revolutionizing Olympic Performance Analysis: Omega’s AI Maps the Path to Victory

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Omega's Artificial Intelligence to Analyze Olympic Victories

During the Rome Olympics on August 27, 1960, a highly disputed gold medal was decided. In the men’s 100-meter freestyle swimming competition, both John Devitt from Australia and Lance Larson from the United States finished with identical times of 55.2 seconds. However, only Devitt was awarded the gold.

Swimming races were timed by deploying three timers for each lane, each equipped with a stopwatch, and the final time was determined by calculating the average of these three. In the event of a tie, which was uncommon, a chief judge would make the final decision. In this instance, Hans Runströmer of Sweden served in this role. Although Larson had actually finished a tenth of a second faster, Runströmer ruled that both times were equivalent and awarded the victory to Devitt.

By 1968, the debate had prompted Omega to create touch pads at the end of each swimming lane, enabling swimmers to automatically record their own times, thereby eliminating the possibility of human error.

Alain Zobrist, who leads Omega's Swiss Timing—a division of Omega with 400 staff members responsible for timing, measuring, or monitoring almost every sport—has numerous tales to share.

For instance, by 2024, the initiation of races has seen technological advancement with the integration of electronic starting guns linked to speakers positioned behind every runner. This development is particularly significant in races with staggered lanes, like the 400-meter dash. Before this innovation, athletes positioned in outer lanes were at a slight disadvantage as they would hear the start signal slightly after those in lanes closer to the physical starting pistol.

Omega's Scan-o-Vision technology records as many as 40,000 digital frames every second.

Consider how in the 1940s, when photo finishes were initially introduced, reaching a verdict would demand almost two hours since the footage needed to be developed first. Today, Omega's innovative Scan-o-Vision technology has the ability to take up to 40,000 digital images every second, enabling officials to reach a decision within minutes.

Diving into the nuances—or even fractions of a second—Swiss Timing has transcended the basic role of merely tracking race times for ages. Although the Omega emblem has adorned the timing equipment at every Olympic event since 1932, with the exceptions of 1964 and 1992 when Seiko stepped in, Swiss Timing's role extends far beyond merely recording the start and end of races. "We narrate the entire race narrative, not just the outcomes," explains Zobrist. Looking ahead to Paris 2024, the complexity of these narratives is set to increase significantly.

"2018 marked a significant turning point for us," Zobrist recalls. "It was the year we began implementing motion sensors in athletes' apparel, enabling us to capture the entire performance—from the beginning to the end."

The sensors were capable of measuring not only the distance covered but also the number of steps taken, maximum speeds achieved, rates of speeding up and slowing down, as well as the effects of wind from behind. For swimming activities, they were adept at tracking the number of strokes. Embedded within a device that weighed just 12 grams, these sensors could collect up to 2,000 different metrics and relay this information in less than 0.1 seconds. This valuable data could subsequently be shared with both coaches and the athletes, serving as a resourceful tool for training purposes.

In Paris, Swiss Timing is leveraging artificial intelligence to interpret the data in real-time, aiming to construct a coherent story of the race. This narrative is intended not only for the competitors but also for dissemination across social media platforms and television networks.

The most significant innovation is the capability to leverage past data. Zobrist explains, "You have the option to feed in data from past events to forecast an athlete's future performance. AI is now equipped to evaluate individual performances and juxtapose them with others. Essentially, we are capturing a snapshot in time, or observing the progression of events over time." Zobrist has mentioned that Swiss Timing will now have a much more precise method of pinpointing the front-runners, monitoring their progress during the event, and subsequently correlating this information with that of other competitors. This will then allow for a detailed analysis of the reasons behind an athlete's victory or defeat at each juncture of the competition.

Beyond the flashy new graphics and enhanced data analytics, the standout advancement comes from what Zobrist and his crew achieve with body-imaging technology. When this tech was first utilized four years ago, the resulting images were rudimentary, reminiscent of simplistic child sketches. Today, Swiss Timing boasts a technology it refers to as "computer vision" – a setup involving one or more cameras that supply visuals to AI algorithms tailored for individual sports, generating highly realistic human figures (imagine the Silver Surfer from the Fantastic Four, but clad in Omega's signature red).

Omega's artificial intelligence system for diving competitions will monitor competitors throughout their entire dive, creating a three-dimensional representation and calculating key statistics, including the speed at which they enter the water.

For instance, Zobrist demonstrates through videos how these AI-driven figures execute flawless dives, complete with gymnastic flips and rotations. In the context of diving, the technology monitors divers throughout their entire performance, creating a three-dimensional representation through a particular mathematical formula. Simultaneously, it compiles visual data and statistics, including the diver's entry speed into the water. This information can also help officials determine the gap between the diver and the diving board—a critical measurement that was traditionally estimated visually and could lead to a reduction in scores if not properly maintained.

In tennis, besides monitoring the athletes live, the system will display the response to the serve—detailing the speed of the return, the angle of the racket, and the precision. This information will help analyze if there's a link between a player's performance and their ability to react to a serve, moving beyond simply assessing match results based on the strength of serves.

In pole vaulting, the artificial intelligence software will calculate the distance between the competitor and the bar to determine its impact on the performance of the jump.

For the first time in pole vaulting, the distance between the competitor and the bar will be gauged to examine its impact on the quality of the jump. In gymnastics, a sophisticated camera setup will monitor the movements of gymnasts as they perform spins, flips, and aerial maneuvers. The artificial intelligence utilized in this sport has been specially designed to follow the human skeletal structure, enabling the system to analyze the orientation of the gymnast's feet and its influence on the rotation during jumps.

"The number of cameras we deploy varies by sport, based on our measurement goals. Consequently, the quantity of cameras used directly affects how many computers are required," Zobrist shares. "For instance, we utilize four cameras for swimming competitions but beach volleyball can require as many as 16 cameras. What sets our system apart isn't the hardware but rather the specialized software we've crafted. We create specific algorithms and train AI models tailored to each sport, which truly forms the core of our computer vision technology. The computers we use are off-the-shelf models."

Swiss Timing has announced that its latest software incorporates data from various sports competitions spanning several years to accurately track athletes' movements. This comprehensive database includes information from local sports meets, national tournaments, and major international competitions like the athletics Diamond League, where Omega serves as the official timekeeper.

Nonetheless, similar to any technological system, artificial intelligence is not without its flaws. During the Olympics, it will be employed in scenarios where a mistake could be the deciding factor between securing a spot on the podium or heading back home on a flight.

In the realm of tennis, the artificial intelligence system will display how players respond to serves, examining the speed of the return, the angle of the racket, and the precision of the shot.

Zobrist asserts that their software is designed to identify any unforeseen irregularities in the measurement procedure. They explain that this enables the timing team to either manually adjust these deviations or allow the system to handle them automatically. Zobrist emphasizes that no data is ever lost; it is consistently recorded and organized for accurate analysis.

Even though the Paris Olympics are on the verge of kicking off, the groundwork for the upcoming Olympic Games is already underway. Zobrist remains reserved about the specifics of the new features to be introduced. “We are in the early stages of a transformative era in sports timing, and Omega has a definitive plan for the forthcoming Olympic events, including Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028. But since we are still in the process of development, we are not in a position to disclose any information at this moment.”

However, with the introduction of the tap board in swimming, there was no longer a requirement for a large group of judges and timers to be stationed around the pool. Therefore, with the advancement of technology, does Zobrist believe that the role of people in sports timing will become unnecessary in the near future?

"He indicates that a change is on the horizon, emphasizing the desire to eliminate elements of human error. However, he acknowledges the perennial need for human oversight, especially for monitoring the operations of machines."

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