THE FIRST COMPUTERISED OLYMPICS

At 14 x 9 metres, OMEGA’s colour video matrix board was a clear sign that a new era in timekeeping had begun. Though fully computerised, Seoul was not lacking in human drama. In the backstroke heats, two swimmers from Italy and Australia recorded precisely the same times in not one, but two races. It was only in the thrid race that the Italian qualified by a 0.13 second margin.