Simon Amor’s side won’t just be facing a South African team full of precision and power this evening in today’s Olympic Rugby Sevens semi-final.
The Springboks are utilising data from injury prevention specialists Kitman Labs in order monitor every details of their players’ fitness through the gruelling Olympic schedule. Utilising the largest amount of sports and data scientists in the industry, Kitman Labs created a system using cloud-based software, which generates both intelligent and comprehensive results relating to each individual athlete. Made up of three integrated components; Profiler, Capture, and Athlete, Kitman Labs dissects specific data in order to give real-time alerts to coaching staffs with details about why the athlete is at risk. They are not alone in going that little bit further to increase performance. Aviva Premiership Rugby sides Bath Rugby and Gloucester Rugby are already using Kitman Labs’ system, as is the Irish Rugby Union side. Rugby has followed in the footsteps of the NFL when it comes to analysing players’ data. The Miami Dolphins currently use the integrated Athlete Optimisation System featuring the Profiler, Capture and Athlete. Football has also started to analysing injury data closely, Premier League side Everton and SkyBet Championship side Norwich City are advocates of the system as they aim to minimise injury levels during their long season. “It’s not just about being able to track what these athletes do, it’s about tracking how they respond”, explains Stephen Smith, Kitman Labs CEO. “The greatest thing about this system is that it continues to learn over time. We gather on the carpet for reflection sessions at the end of writing https://college-homework-help.org/ college homework helper workshop with our notebooks on our laps to discuss and share. For each athlete, teams can ensure that they can push themselves forward and get bigger, faster and stronger, while managing injury risk. ”
In nowhere else are the terms ‘bigger, faster and stronger’ more relevant than when discussing the Olympic Games, a culmination of the world’s greatest athletes competing at the highest levels of competition. With all of these athletes determined to perform at their absolute best, unfortunately the reality of injuries can’t be escaped. A recorded 25 per cent of the injuries that occur during the Olympics are a result of training for the games, as well the recorded 1,000 injuries that took place during the 2012 Olympic Games in London, impacting just over 11 per cent of the competing athletes. Also working with Kitman Labs in the Olympics is the Irish Men’s National Hockey Team, who are competing in their first ever Olympic hockey game in the country’s history.