or1980v2pt1

The advance of science and technology
increasingly affect the organisation
of modern Olympic Games. In
addition to being a festival of sports,
they have become nowadays a sort of
a showcase for scientific and engineering
achievements. Any more or
less important sports event is inconceivable
today without sophisticated
and diverse support equipment.
Millions of sport fans all over the
world want to witness the Olympic
competitions and to know their results
immediately. It takes the latest computers,
broadcasting and telecommunications
technology as well as the
precise refereeing and information
equipment and other technical means
to accommodate this and many other
needs, and to distribute the information
about the Olympic Games
throughout the world.
As required by the Olympic Charter,
results of the events should be
communicated, as soon as possible,
to the mass media and, first of all, to
TV and radio broadcasters.
This chapter deals with the automated
information systems at the
Games of the XXII Olympiad for ensuring
the broadcasting and telecommunication
services. The application
of the refereeing and score-keeping
equipment as well as other sports
apparatus is described in Chapter IV
"Preparation and Staging of Competitions".
The main objectives of the OCOG-
80 with regard to the supply of technology
for the Games of the XXII
Olympiad were defined as follows:
— to organise the work on preparation
of technical facilities for the
Games;
— to coordinate the activities of
the ministries and government agencies
concerned on developing the
new and modernising the existing
technical facilities needed for staging
the Games at a high technical and
organisational level;
— to ensure supervision over the
timely progress of work on the
technical servicing of the Games;
— to ensure that the new and
modified technology makes the maximum
use of the latest achievements
in science and engineering in the
Soviet Union and other countries with
whom the USSR traditionally maintains
stable economic relations;
— to minimise the number of technical
systems and devices designed
for use during the Games only;
— to organise the training of personnel
to be engaged by the OCOG-80
in the operation and maintenance of
technical systems during the Games;
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— to make sure that the automatic
data-processing system (ACS), telecommunications
and broadcasting circuits
function well.
The Technology Department
formed by the OCOG-80 in 1976 was
made responsible for the above activities.
It consisted originally of two
divisions with two more added later, in
mid-1978. The Department numbered
40 members by the start of the Games.
As the Moscow Games approached,
new and renovated sports facilities
were made increasingly available for a
great number of preparatory jobs, for
installation, start up, and trial runs of
all technical systems. Therefore, to
keep better watch on the work directly
at the sites, the Service of Technical
Systems (STS) was set up in March
1979 attached to the Technology Department.
It consisted of 119 members
by the time the Games opened.
The STS provided coordinators for
all the venues. In cooperation with the
Technology Department, before the
Games, the coordinators organised
the training of personnel to be engaged
in the operation and checking
of the equipment during the Olympics.
The Technology Department of the
OCOG-80 worked in intimate contact
with the Commissions dealing with the
results service, automatic dataprocessing
systems, television and
radio broadcasting, and communications.
The best research, engineering,
and industrial institutions of the country
were invited to provide technical
facilities for the Games. About 30
ministries and government agencies
developed sophisticated technical systems
and equipment. More than 100
Soviet research institutes, design offices,
and industrial enterprises participated
in the supply of technology
for the Olympic venues. They designed,
manufactured, delivered, installed,
started up, tested, accepted,
and operated the technical systems
and equipment. Over 80 per cent of
the equipment were supplied by the
Soviet Union and other CMEA member
states who have long-established scientific,
technological, and economic
ties with the USSR. Major enterprises
of socialist countries, who participated
in the CMEA joint radio electronics
projects, proved themselves to be reliable
partners of the OCOG-80.
The equipment delivered by these
enterprises, by many other official
suppliers to the 1980 Games in Moscow,
and by the companies which
cooperated with the OCOG-80 on a
commercial basis performed quite
well.