In the Monaco women's 400h just now, one of the athletes' hip numbers fell off while she was still in the blocks. They fall off all the time and it doesn't matter. They don't have a real, practical purpose at this point. Why are they still used?
In the Monaco women's 400h just now, one of the athletes' hip numbers fell off while she was still in the blocks. They fall off all the time and it doesn't matter. They don't have a real, practical purpose at this point. Why are they still used?
Uh, ever heard of a FAT camera? Hip numbers help the finish line officials.
As an Official they speed up the process at the start line getting runners in proper position. That being said at a pro meet you are correct the benefit is negligible but in cases where some runners do not speak English it does help.
At large meets hip numbers are a huge benefit where every minute saved at the start of the race is crucial to keeping the meet on time
Antiquated, old-fashioned, etc.
It's low tech, which means it works in Kenya as well as in the US. It costs diddly squat compared to something fancier. It works, so there's no real need to replace it with something expensive that breaks frequently.
Fat Halpert wrote:
Uh, ever heard of a FAT camera? Hip numbers help the finish line officials.
you fail........ever been to a HS meet where they dont use them? If you are in a laned event you dont need them to tell what lane the person is in. the FAT operators need to put tape tabs on finish line and they can tell what lane the person is in