Lasermet’s laser power meter officially checks Olympic laser pistols

Steve Candy, the combined event manager for LOCOG, the London 2012 organising committee, describes how the Laser Power Meter from Lasermet – the laser safety specialists - was used to help ensure laser pistols used in the Modern Pentathlon provided competitors with a level playing field. ‘Modern Pentathlon is five events comprised of fencing, swimming, horse-riding, shooting and running. The five disciplines are all completed in a single day, with the shooting and running now combined into one final event. In 2010, the sport changed from pistols firing pellets to laser pistols for the shooting discipline. ‘All the points are added up from the fence, the swim and the ride, and the points’ difference equates to a time handicap for the final combined event. So, whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner. This makes it very exciting with a tremendous finish. In the shooting, the lead can change several times depending on how accurate or inaccurate the athletes are with their shots. The Great British women have traditionally done very well at the Olympics winning a medal or two at every Olympics since Stephanie Cook won the first women’s gold in Sydney in 2000. Samantha Murray won silver at the London 2012 Games. ‘Last year, the sport’s governing body, the UIPM, decided to change to laser pistols, for many reasons. There are restrictions in some countries with firing a pellet and the governing body wanted to move to lasers so the sport could be held anywhere. In some countries, younger children aren’t allowed to shoot a pistol at all. Moving to a laser opened up the opportunity to get some younger athletes into the sport. ‘It was an emotional time for the sport; many traditionalists didn’t want the change. The laser pistol was introduced and competitions run throughout 2011, including the World Cup and World Championships. There were some issues around the new technology and for the London Olympics we wanted to eliminate as many as possible. With any changes in a sport it takes a little while to settle down, but it was the Olympics and we didn’t want any issues so we spent a lot of time deciding how to resolve them. This included cabling / communications, protection from the elements and also the laser. ‘In 2011, an agreement was made by the UIPM on the laser specifications so that different suppliers could provide different kit for the pistols and the targets and for them all to work. Because there hadn’t been any real testing at competitions up until that point, the laser shooting was open to both abuse and safety concerns. I wanted to make sure the athletes had a level playing field and that nobody had tweaked the lasers and make them more powerful or fire a longer shot etc. The women’s warm up on range. ‘What I particularly wanted to test was the length of the shot and the power. There were other aspects I would have liked to test like the trigger delay mechanism and the waveform of the beam, but these were less critical. I wanted to make sure the athletes had a level playing field.

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