Immediately before the finish line there are 5 broken lines spaced about 1-meter apart that makes the finish area look like a grid. What is there purpose? I know the black marks on the finish line are used to properly line up the finish line camera; are the grid lines used to help identify places in the finish pictures?
FinishLynx only looks at the finish line, not any other micrometer of space anywhere else on the track. I don't know what purpose those grids serve, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with timing or placing.
It gives the painters a chance to charge more?
It's braille to let blind runners know that the finish line is approaching. ADA required.
A lot of tracks have those lines, especially in Europe. They may have been required (or at least strongly encouraged) by the IAAF at one time, however they are definitely not required today. I believe they were intended to either alert runners that they were approaching the finish line, or to somehow aid hand timers. If it was the second reason, then it was a stupid idea.
Sacramento and Indianapolis have them; Eugene doesn't.
Others, like W.A., may know a lot more about this.
Somebody has got to know about those line ... this is driving me crazy watching the meet.
OK, last bump. Anybody got a clue?
Those lines are necessary for the optic decifers and how
finish lynx times the event so fast. The also break up the
lane lines right at the finish line for the optic decifers.
decifers? do you mean deciphers?
Does all of this have anything to do with the guy with the stick with the 2 tennis balls on the ends ? Someone explain...
i always thought (albeit possibly incorrectly) that for races that are sort of close, you can see how much a person wins by. for example, "runner x wins over runner y by 2.5 meters"
I think they are there so that Nick McCormick knows when to start walking and therfore allow his opponents to pass just before the finish.
The IAAF has an IAAF Track and Field Facilities Manual which lists markings, but I have to leave and haven't found it yet. My guess is that it for visual reference, for spectators and athletes. Unless it is a nostalga thing from the days of running the mile on 400m tracks, (the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 mile split lines move 2.3 yards each lap.
Cameraman, you are wrong. FinishLynx and all other approved timing systems look at only the finish line itself; those other lines are not seen by the camera. This goes for all photofinish equipment: Swiss Timing (aka Omega, Swatch), Seiko, and the old film-based systems including Bulova and Accutrak.
Proof: Hayward Field doesn't have 'em, and FinishLynx and other systems seem to work just fine there (see the photo)--in fact, I've never seen any other venue get the final times up on the scoreboard so fast.
Jerk,you are absolutely correct! It IS a visual reference for determining the approximate spread between each finisher.
It was a nice innovation for slo-mo movies and still news photos.
Happened to learn that back in the early '50s.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE POST A LINK?
THIS I REALLY ANNOYING ME, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
Why are you annoyed? Because you have never watched a meet, even on TV, with five stripes across the track just before the finish line? Hope you haven't died yet.
Here's a photo of the finish line at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento from this month; you can see all but one of the stripes which are at -5, -4, -3, -2, and -1 meter before the finish line.
Modern automatic timing has rendered the need for these obsolete and I do not believe that they are required by the IAAF these days.
I believe the hash marks counting down to the common finish line from 5m out are to tell incoming sprinters where the actual line is.
If you're bombing in at 9.90 speed in the 100m, you can know you should lean as you get into the hashes. If you're near-delirious from a 44.1 400m, you can know where the finish line is, etc.
Without the hashes, you might see any other line and mistakenly think it's the finish line.
Those lines are so stupid and dangerous. What if someone trips over one of them before reaching the finish line? You ever think of that?
to see the finish line wrote: If you're bombing in at 9.90 speed in the 100m, you can know you should lean as you get into the hashes.
If I'm bombing in at 9.90 in the 100m, that lean ain't gonna help because I must be on a bike.
