Athletes and staff get wearables to ensure social distancing



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Every year thousands of elite and amateur runners compete in the London Marathon. Last year, 42,000 people completed the 26.2-mile journey through the British capital, with thousands on the streets to lend their support.

The marathon is an opportunity to achieve personal goals and raise millions of dollars for charitable causes.

But hosting a mass participation event in the Coronavirus era is impossible and marathons around the world have been canceled or postponed, much to the disappointment of those who had spent months training and raising funds for their big day in the spotlight.

London marathon

London hopes things are back to normal for the 2021 event, but in the meantime, the 40th The staging of the event will take place in a safe bubble in St James Park. Only 100 elite athletes will compete in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair races, while 500 staff members will be on hand to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

It’s not the norm, but London will be the only major marathon to take place anywhere in the world this year.

Naturally, the bubble will be subject to strict social distancing and security measures to safeguard everyone inside. But just to be safe, they will all be equipped with wearable technology that he hopes to minimize the risk of infection.

Organizers have partnered with Tharsus to implement the ‘Bump’ system that alerts users if they are approaching someone else in the safe area. Portable devices use radio frequency (RF) technologies to determine proximity to each other and notify the user if their distance is insufficient.

Furthermore, the system can identify individual users, which means that it will be possible to inform anyone who has been in close contact with someone who is later diagnosed with Covid-19.

“This weekend’s event is the culmination of months of planning on how to run a socially distanced 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon that is safe for all participants and stakeholders,” said Hugh Brasher, Events Director at the London Marathon. London. Tharsus Bump technology has played an important role, giving our athletes and internal teams the added confidence to participate in the event safely.

“We have been working with Tharsus for many months and while we were still hoping to run the mass participation event on its regular route, we were planning to supply all participants with the Bump technology to host a socially distanced mass event. It shows how important technology can play in the current situation ”.

Tharsus has tested the technology in work settings, but believes Bump’s potential in sports and entertainment contexts is obvious given the current difficulties getting fans back to stadiums.

Viewers were expected to be able to return from October, but this has been delayed due to strict blocking restrictions in the UK.

Wearable technologies, along with data analytics platforms and AI-powered automation, are three of the innovations the sports industry is pinning its hopes on to enable the safe return of fans and the ability to generate revenue. much needed.

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