Filipino Athletes Gear Up for 2019 SEA Games with SmarTracks
The Philippines is in for an unforgettable show at this year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) games. For the first time, our national athletes are training with SmarTracks—state-of-the-art technology that’s powering their performance to new heights.
Big Data for Big Results
Say hello to the country’s first world-class sports facility with athletic tracking technology, and say goodbye to stopwatches. SmarTracks records and analyzes individual data, making it easy for coaches and athletes to test baselines and meet specific goals via a convenient, scientific approach.
Here’s how it works:
- SmarTracks timing gates are invisibly integrated into the track or field.
- Athletes wear a sensor belt and move through the magnetic timing gates during training.
- The system uses sensor tech and a mobile app to accurately record running time, speed, step length, step frequency, and step height.
- Graphic visualizations quantitatively describe an athlete’s speed, acceleration, and stride length.
- Precise measurements are given at all times and in all weather conditions, to an unlimited extent.
As the venue for the bi-annual games, New Clark City Athletics Stadium was fitted with 99 SmarTracks timing gates. E-Sports International installed both the competition and warm-up tracks from Polytan of Sport Group, the largest and longest established athletic track sports contractor in the world.
“Compared sa ibang track, mas may advantage ‘to. For me, every data is very important, lalo na yung mga split seconds. Kasi ‘di namin pwedeng basta-basta balewalain iyon,” says national athlete Anfernee Lopena, who headlines the sprinters in the mens’ 100-meter dash.
[Compared to other tracks, this one gives us an advantage. For me, every data is important, especially the split seconds. We just can’t ignore those numbers.]
World-Class Facilities to Boost Performance
For national coach Sean Guevarra, the world-class facility creates a positive training environment that improves the morale of our athletes who aim to make their country proud. With the new software, coaches can effectively determine an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses in order to improve these with targeted training.
New Clark City Athletics Stadium, the country’s new national sports complex has been certified as Class 1 by the International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF). The venue accommodates 20,000 spectators and features a 400-meter standard track and a nine-lane world-class track and field facility. It also has an outdoor warm-up area with four 400-meter lanes and an indoor warm-up space with two 100-meter lanes.