Technology helps Olympic riders

By Alfred Hermida
BBC News Online technology editor

Confidence is high among Britain's riders

Britain's Olympic riders are looking to technology to gain an edge in Athens.

They have been using video cameras and laptop computers during their training sessions to hone their performance.

The team are tipped to walk away with double Olympic gold in the three-day eventing, and have a chance of an individual medal in the showjumping.

"We are all fortunate that we have got really good horses in the right year, so our confidence is good," said champion rider Leslie Law.

Productive training

Britain won silver in the team event in Sydney four years ago. But medals in the dressage and showjumping have eluded the British riders.

Three of the riders who won the team silver in the three-day eventing in 2000 - Jeanette Brakewell, Pippa Funnell and Leslie Law - are heading to Athens.

The team have been training hard for the Athens Olympics.

It gave us an insight into what each judge was seeing during the sessions Leslie Law

In the arena, the riders have been analysing their performance using video cameras and a Tablet PC - a variety of laptops running a special version of Windows XP that allows users to write data directly onto the screen.

"Being able to visualise and see it is a big advantage," Mr Law told BBC News Online. "In the past, whole video sessions were recorded during the day and then watched it in the evening."

"This has allowed us to take it a step further and look at it, there and then, in the training sessions. It has made the training sessions much more productive."

The use of video and computers for instant playback has become common in the sporting world, where athletes seek to gain as much of an edge as possible.

Precise performance

To win the three-day event, rider and horse must excel in three different disciplines - dressage, cross country and show-jumping.

Equestrian events form a unique part of the Olympics

In dressage, riders must perform a set of 20 moves and are marked by three judges watching from three different perspectives for each move - how they control the horse and the obedience, pace and control of the animal.

In order to finesse their performance, the British riders used three video cameras to put themselves in the judges' mind.

By playing all three recordings immediately and simultaneously on the laptop, they could examine their performance from every angle and correct any errors.

"It gave us an insight into what each judge was seeing during the sessions," explained Mr Law.

Mr Law helped the British team pick up silver at the last Olympics.

Since then, he has added two European Championship golds to his medal cabinet.

"We are a very strong team, the confidence is good," said Mr Law, "but we musn't be complacent."