Olympic factoid: information overload?

Something we rarely encounter at home competitions is the Technical Information Centre (known as the TIC), but for major international events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, this is a vital part of the machine.

The TIC is the go-to place for athletes, coaches and/or Team Managers to find out about their events (e.g. start lists, times, results, victory ceremonies) and various procedures including implement check-in, general enquiries, relay order confirmation, coaches’ seating cards, questions for the Technical Meeting, requests for assistance on the field in Para Athletics, requests for withdrawals, doping control requests, and documentation for national records, protests and appeals. To help with this plethora of information, there are noticeboards to pin paper onto (and nowadays - sometimes screens too) and there are also pigeonholes for every country, and a very organised filing system!

You can see the pigeon holes from 2002 IPC (Para) Worlds and at London 2012 in the two pictures below.

Access to the TIC is only allowed to people with the correct accreditation. The TIC can be complemented by SID (Sport Information Desks) in hotels or in the Athletes’ Village during the Games.

Geneviève Meurisse was in the TIC at London 2012 and a number of major events since. She tells us:

"At the World Masters in Lyon, a Japanese athlete showed me his train ticket, thinking we were the Transport Information Centre. He told me: "there must be something wrong, it's written that my train leaves Gare de Lyon La Part Dieu and arrives in Paris Gare de Lyon. That's the same station!"

Keeping track of time

Working days can be very long for people working at the TIC: on competition days, the TIC will be open from two hours before the first event until one hour after the end of the last event. For para competitions the TIC must be open during the days of classification before the competition as well. So whenever possible, officials and general volunteers will work in shifts with an overlap to ensure a smooth takeover.

Athletes have a right to officially protest to a referee on the field of play but can also take it a step further and appeal a decision to the Jury of Appeal. This must be made through the TIC within 30 minutes of the official announcement of the result, so it is very important to write the time of publication on the results.

Plain speaking

Even if English is regarded as the official language it is essential to have people speaking other languages in a TIC. In case of a protest it’s much easier when you know exactly what is all about and when you have to explain why an appeal has been rejected.

Geneviève recalls: "In London, the Venezuelans came to TIC to say they didn't agree that their relay had been disqualified. They could only speak Spanish and the Technical Official could only speak English. I took my book of rules in Spanish and made them read the reason for their disqualification. They told me in Spanish: 'We didn't do that'.

"I helped them complete the English protest form. And they were reinstated for the final. When they met me in the Athletes' Village I had become a heroine for their country!"

Rules and Regulations

The TIC Manager needs to have excellent knowledge of the rules and regulations of the competition and must be able to organise their team to effectively cover all TIC activities and duties.

For example, at the 2015 World Masters Championships, the German 80+ relay team couldn't understand why they had been disqualified. He acted out what he and the next athlete had done; as he dropped the baton in the takeover zone, the outgoing athlete had picked it up inside the zone. Rule 24.6 says the athlete who drops the baton must pick it up. The athletes were understandably upset but thanked the TIC profusely for being respectful towards them and using their native tongue.

Geneviève finished her interview with this anecdote about the Global Games in Vichy last year when two heads of delegations arrived at the same time to ask her a question, one in English and the other one in Spanish.

"I had to juggle two foreign languages which isn't really difficult for me as I am used to it. I looked for the answers and came back. It's only when I saw the Englishman's face that I realised that I was answering his question in Spanish instead of English!"

With huge thanks to Geneviève Meurisse who provided much of this information and photos.