Sports and Data Analytics

The recent World track and field Championships were held in Eugene, Oregon. The US men just swept the 100 meters 1-3. However, they ended up second when it came to the 4 x 100 relay. On paper the fastest, but they still ended up Second. Why did this happen? Bad handoffs have been plaguing the men’s relay team for years. But for the first time, we have access to this data. You can actually see how they lost. They took too long to exchange the baton. To win, you need a combination of both fast runners and good handoffs. You can see from the data that Brazil had the fastest handoffs, but they came in last because they just don’t have the footspeed. The US team lost by .09 seconds. However, their baton exchanges were .26 slower than the Canadian team. So, back to the drawing board, but they have the data to make improvements.   #dataanalytics #processimprovement #data #sportsdata #djsdigital