The heart of biathlon beats in Meran

I admit that 23 years as a biathlon commentator have not been without consequences. For once, my accreditation also has a 7 on it, an almost magical number that gives me access to a world that I still encounter with astonished eyes to this day. I arrive at some kind of command center that actually has nothing to do with the sweaty sport that's going on outside. Laptops and computers and a tangle of cables dominate the picture. Fingers race across keyboards in concentration. A wild sequence of letters and symbols emerges and I know that I will never understand it in my life. But I also know that I am now at the heart of the sport of biathlon.

This is what it looked like in the “siwidata” camp during preparation for the season.

This is where the stories that happen on the trail are ultimately cast into a solid and irrefutable form. In her opening victory over 15 kilometers in Kontiolahti, Dorothea Wierer ultimately only had a lead of eight tenths of a second over the German Denise Herrmann. And all TV viewers were able to cheer as they crossed the finish line and saw the numbers. 0,8 seconds remained from more than 30 at the last split. Previously, the 0 always appeared at Wierer's shooting range. Error free. And you could also see how long it took her to fire the first shot, how long she stayed at the shooting range in total and also where the wind was blowing from, how it twisted and turned and made shooting a lottery. And still: zero.

Biathlon, this complicated mixture of cross-country skiing and small-caliber shooting, has become understandable and followable for all fans. Every minute reveals new moments of tension. It's like a big computer game with human protagonists. The company “siwidata” from Merano is behind it. Siegfried Winkler recognized the potential in this profession early on and his son Christian has made new improvements in recent years to ensure that biathlon has become a visible sport. We, who are just spectators, always receive new information during a race and an up-to-date overview of the current state of affairs. Who is making up time, who is losing, who still has chances, who has wasted them all? Thousands of questions that can be answered quickly and comprehensively with the help of highly complex technology. Athletes as ongoing data providers Each athlete wears two ankle bracelets, so-called transponders, which transmit the split time at twelve measuring points along the route. “siwidata” carries 240 transponders because you sometimes have to serve three events at the same time. 16 computers in the headquarters manage the data (server, control of the display board, photo finish, generators for the TV graphics, video recording). There are also eight cameras at the shooting range for the jury in case any irregularities or rule violations need to be checked. Two weather stations are being set up and I and my colleagues will also be well looked after. Each commentator is provided with their own information system so that they are always up to date. I can even program my country favorites in different colors. At this point I reveal my attitude: I highlight Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland before every race so that I can inform viewers in the entire German-speaking region in detail if their athletes are not shown on television. I also have a separate category for the shooting range with yellow dots and red dots, so that I know very quickly and clearly: penalty loop or not.

The employees of “siwidata” at the recent World Cup in Kontiolahti.

In the end, it all adds up to two tons of equipment. Nine pallets were transported from Kontiolahti to Hochfilzen by a freight company. In Tyrol, Christian Winkler's team needed another two days to set everything up perfectly. Luckily, this is a well-rehearsed group in which everyone, absolutely everyone, can do every move in their sleep. This is necessary in every phase, especially during the race, when an open biathlon heart operation has to be performed. Then so-called “abdominal bands” (names and dates of the athletes) must be placed precisely. Here too, every second counts. And it always works thanks to the experience and the “siwidata” team that has worked together over the years. It's no exaggeration if I say that, in addition to the fascination of combining two different sports in one form, biathlon has become a success story primarily because of the perfect presentation for television consumers. And to ensure that it stays that way, after three years of development work, Christian Winkler has now installed new software that makes it even better and more intensive to analyze the performances of the active players quickly and clearly, so that every fan can use the graphical display to see all the important parameters can become an expert.

By the way, when the last snowflakes have fallen at the end of March, “siwidata” takes care of whitewater racing at World Cup races, World Championships and the Olympic Games. As is the case with biathlon. And as luck would have it: Canoeing in the spray with waves and rollers and penalty seconds for touching the gate is also part of my area of work at Eurosport in the summer. And so I, a very lucky child, stay in the care of South Tyrol all year round.

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The heart of biathlon beats in Meran

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