The system was tested out by Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal winning decathlete Bryan Clay (pictured above).

It has been in development for almost a year at the BMW technology office in California and captures an athlete in motion, automatically calculating performance metrics (pictured below) for coaches to use in training long jumpers.

The technology will now become a permanent fixture at the Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California, by athletes looking to compete at London 2012.

It provides real time analysis of horizontal approach velocity, vertical take off velocity and take off angle – the three key measurements of a long jump.

The technology will benefit the likes of four time world champion long jumper Dwight Phillips (pictured second image down), and meets a key need for USATF, who are sponsored by BMW.


BMW is also a sustainability and automotive partner of London 2012, and also partners with USA Bobsled & Skeleton, US Speedskating and USA Swimming.

"BMW stands for performance, efficiency and innovation," said BMW marketing vice president Dan Creed.

"Drawing on these core values, our engineers have combined automotive engineering expertise with advanced technologies to develop a system that will drive athletic performance and provide real world benefits to elite athletes.

"We are thrilled to be making a meaningful contribution to Team USA beyond a financial commitment."

"As a decathlete, my reality is one in which centimeters and thousandths of a second are the difference between an Olympic gold medal and no medal," said double world indoor champion Clay.

"The feedback this tool is able to provide immediately, during a practice as opposed to days afterward, will enable me to make minor adjustments to my jumps that could equate to significant performance gains."


The technology will be in use for USATF during the final crucial months ahead of this month's Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

The US were the best team in athletics at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, winning seven gold medals.

"The amount of real-time data presented by this tool will help coaches and sports scientists to make better decisions and maximise the efficacy of athlete training sessions," said USATF chief of sport performance Benita Fitzgerald Mosley.

"This is of tremendous benefit to our athletes and coaches at the Training Centre.

"We're grateful to BMW for the level of commitment they've demonstrated to our partnership and our individual athletes, and we look forward to utilising the tool for years to come."

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