IT and Figure Skating
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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Archives
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February 24, 2010 8:30 AM
Unknown to many, figure skating is the original Olympic event. Gracefully merging the athleticism of ice skating with the artistry of ballet, figure skating dates back to the 1908 Games in London. However, it wasn’t until the 2002 Salt Lake City Games that judges had access to instant video replay.
Salt Lake City was also the first time judges moved their scoring cards online and got rid of their pens and paper pads.
Judges rate the skaters’ performances on a computer system with two sets of marks. The first—and more important—mark reflects technical merit; the second assesses timing and expression. Judges evaluate the difficulty of jumps, spins and footwork, as well as the speed, execution and variety of the elements performed. These results must be delivered to a worldwide audience in under 0.3 seconds.
Figure skating poses the biggest challenge for our Commentator Information System (CIS)—between fun facts, previous results and personal information of each skater, our CIS is an invaluable tool for broadcasters covering the sport.
If you listen carefully to the figure skating broadcasts, you will notice the amount of ‘colour’ commentary taking place—everything from the athletes’ uniforms to individual statistics on a specific manoeuvre. This information must be instantly accessible by broadcasters, and our CIS must of course be loaded with up-to-date information.
*Picture: Broadcasters using our CIS systems at the Pacific Coliseum venue
Thanks to all the testing, our CIS has held up perfectly and the only thing the world is talking about is the skating routines and costumes. But, that’s why we test, test and test some more—so our systems are ready for the first axel, salchow, and spin.
FAST FACT:
Canada’s Elvis Stojko—a two-time Olympic silver medalist—was the first person to land a quadruple jump combination in competition.
Originally posted by Victoria Lind on the Atos Origin 2010 Winter Olympics Blog
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| Atos Origin, the Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games, designs, integrates, manages and secures the multiple IT systems that manage the games and relay results, events and athlete information to spectators and media around the world. |  |
