Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology helps marathon organizers to keep the most accurate records, a research institute said Saturday on the sidelines of the 2006 24-hour World Challenge taking place in Taipei.
RFID also helps cycling, triathlon and speed skating, sports that determine winners by their times, said Chang Bo-kuang, Director of the RFID Technology Center under the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
The technology was first used in the 1994 Berlin Marathon but has not been widely used in Taiwan until recent years, said Sunny Chen, Secretary-General of the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association (CTRRA) -- organizer of the 24-hour marathon.
"It helps us to ensure the fairness of the competition, as runners at the front and back of the starting line will compete on an
equal footing. And it helps us to present the latest records online in real time, " she said.
The CTRRA has set up four 40-inch LCD TVs on-site to show the latest times when the runners pass through sensor areas.