EDITORIAL 785

Warm up neously in the freestyle final...... Two of the three first-place judges had Devitt as the winner whereas two of the three second place judges had him in The time lords – measurement and second place. All three timekeepers Br J Sports Med: first published as on 21 October 2005. Downloaded from using stopwatches gave Devitt 55.2 performance in sprinting seconds, while the timekeepers on Larson’s lane gave him 55.0, 55.1, and P McCrory 55.1 seconds. Because all six measure- ments were within 0.2 of a second of ...... each they did little to help decide the winner. On the basis of the decisions by the first place judges, the gold medal was awarded to Devitt and the official he modern Olympic Games were (called the husplex) was used, much like time for both was recorded as 55.2 founded by Baron Pierre de that in horse racing today. seconds. Coubertin in 1896, with the inten- In the modern Olympics, sprinters T In 1964 an electronic quartz timing tion of improving health and education, start from a crouching position, pushing promoting world peace, and encoura- against starting blocks to help them system was used for the first time in international events, thereby improving ging fair and equal competition. Such accelerate. Blocks were introduced in Victorian values, although inherently the late 1920s and were first used at the timing accuracy to 0.01 of a second. The ennobling have little resonance in mod- 1948 London Olympics. Instrumented computerised timing used in events ern sport. starting blocks appeared in the early today has increased the accuracy to The motto of the modern Olympic 1980s. A device within each starting 0.001 of a second, which is 10 times games—Citius, Altius, Fortius (swifter, block records the interval between the the accuracy required under current higher, stronger)—illustrates how win- gun firing and the first athlete leaving rules. ning, not just participation, is just as the blocks. A false start is declared if With such astounding accuracy, important now as it was 2500 years ago this interval is less than 0.110 of a unsuspected problems may become in ancient Greece. Then, as now, win- second, since this figure has been apparent. For example, the timing ning athletes were treated like heroes. It determined as the limit of human device has to be stable to about 100 is no wonder, then, that athletes have reaction time. parts per million per degree Kelvin to used any means at their disposal to stop it losing accuracy as the ambient improve their performance. temperature fluctuates. Fortunately In some cases, it is the evolution of JUDGING THE FINISH such accuracies are becoming easier to Timing the finish of events has similarly solve due to improvements in microchip technology that alters the sport rather http://bjsm.bmj.com/ evolved over time. Originally the race than the athlete adopting ergogenic technology. aids. In sport, there exists a balance winner was determined by a judge or judges who determined the result between technology and tradition. The DOES TIMING TECHNOLOGY ruling bodies either allow technology to visually. This has evolved into the extremely complex systems in use in AFFECT PERFORMANCE? advance a sport (such as in the pole As far as the sprinters themselves are vault with the advent of flexible poles or today’s modern Olympics. Judging very close races concerned, the technology available to full body swimming suits to reduce them is fairly limited. Most develop- friction) or use it to under-engineer a visually was a problem until photo ments have focused on improving the on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. sport (such as modifying the javelin to finish cameras were used. Originally, film-based cameras were used, but this surface of the track and designing reduce throwing distances). As long as running shoes that are lighter and give the same technology is available to all meant that athletes and spectators had to wait until the film was developed a better fit. The winning times for the competitors at the same time, then it 100 metre sprint at the modern comes down to the ability and the skill before they knew the result. The intro- of the athlete. Problems arise when duction of the vertical line-scanning technology is available exclusively to video system in 1991 removed human Table 1 Olympic 100 metre times only one group of athletes. error from the judging of running (seconds) events. The video image of each athlete as they actually cross the line is shown Year Men Women TIMING PERFORMANCE superimposed with a grid that records 1928 10.8 12.2 One of the crucial aspects of sport is the time for each competitor. This 1932 10.4 11.9 measurement. The precision by which system allows judges to declare the 1936 10.3 11.5 performances are judged provide the result more quickly and more accu- 1948 10.3 11.9 basis of records and disqualifications. 1952 10.79 11.65 rately. 1956 10.62 11.82 The timing of performance initially 1960 10.32 11.18 STARTING THE RACE used hand-held stopwatches, which in 1964 10.06 11.49 turn depend on human judgment and 1968 9.95 11.08 In the ancient Olympics, the Greeks had a 1972 10.14 11.07 sprint of about 190 metres called the reactions for their accuracy. The stop- 1976 10.06 11.08 stadion, which involved a sprint down a watches themselves also have an inher- 1980 10.25 11.06 straight track and back again. The tech- ent inaccuracy of the order of 0.2 of a 1984 9.99 10.97 second, which would correlate to an 1988 9.92 10.54 nology of the day consisted of nothing 1992 9.96 10.82 more than a wooden post at one end to error of 2 metres in a 100 metre sprint. 1996 9.84 10.94 help the runner on his return. Races Such inaccuracy presents real diffi- 2000 9.87 10.75 began with the athletes standing upright, culties. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, 2004 9.85 10.93 with their toes resting in grooves in a Australia’s John Devitt and America’s starting stone. Later a starting gate Lance Larson finished virtually simulta-

www.bjsportmed.com 786 EDITORIAL

Olympics show a downward trend that In the 100 metre sprint, it seems that both athletes and spectators. In both appears to be levelling out (see table 1). the strength and power of the athlete cases, it has been the ability of the Given the data, it is difficult to see any dominates, and that no technological athlete to adapt to the new equip- particular moment when there has been development has arrived that requires a ment, rather than the physics of the a significant increase in performance. It change of rules. This in contrast to other equipment itself, that has produced the Br J Sports Med: first published as on 21 October 2005. Downloaded from is likely, therefore, that the 100 metre sports such as , where perfor- gains. sprint is dominated by human ability mance improved dramatically with the A century on from Baron de and that improved performance is most introduction of flexible poles in the Coubertin’s original vision of the likely caused by improvements in diet, 1960s, and javelin where the authorities Olympics, the motto swifter, higher, coaching, fitness, and physiology, with altered the rules of javelin by exploiting stronger reassuringly still depends on technology playing a relatively minor the laws of physics to reduce throw the skill of the athlete. role. lengths and make the sport safer for Br J Sports Med 2005;39:785–786

Warm up their quadrant calculations. As a result, ...... the metre in the Archives is 0.2 milli- metres shorter than one ten-millionth of the quadrant of the earth. Definitions for the purist The French government made the metre the compulsory standard of mea- P McCrory sure in 1840. The Treaty of the Metre was signed in 1875, and in 1889 a ...... platinum-iridium bar was established as the International Prototype Metre. In 1960, the General Conference on Weights and Measures redefined the WHAT IS A SECOND? define a standard unit of measure, or metre in terms of the number of waves Since 1967, the international standard metre. The astronomer Christian of a very precise colour (wavelength) of for a second has been defined as the Huygens suggested that the metre be light emitted by krypton 86 atoms. In http://bjsm.bmj.com/ time it takes for 9 192 631 770 oscilla- defined by the length of a pendulum 1983, the conference discarded the tions of the microwave radiation corre- having a period of one second; others krypton standard and redefined the sponding to the transition between two favoured a metre defined as one ten- metre in terms of the speed of light. hyperfine levels of the ground state of millionth the length of the earth’s mer- The metre is now officially 1/ an atom of celsium-133. It sounds idian along a quadrant (one fourth the 299 792 458 the distance travelled by complex and an extremely accurate circumference of the earth). In 1791, the light in a vacuum in one second. method for measuring time although a French Academy of Sciences endorsed more recent proposal using a ytterbium the meridian definition because the force WHAT IS REACTION TIME? on September 29, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. standard is superior by a factor of more of gravity varies slightly over the surface Reaction time is the time that elapses than a hundred times. of the earth, affecting the period of a between the moment a stimulus is pendulum. On 22 June 1799, the French detected by the brain and the moment WHAT IS A METRE? Academy Archives adopted its standard a response starts. Studies have shown The origins of the metre go back to the metre, recorded on a platinum bar. The that nobody can react in less than 0.110 late 18th century. At that time, there were French, however, miscalculated the flat- of a second. two competing proposals for how to tening of the earth due to its rotation in Br J Sports Med 2005;39:786

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