BMW gives U.S. athletes new tool for Olympic training@marketwatch

Luxury automaker BMW is launching a groundbreaking system aimed at helping American athletes perfect their technique.

The BMW Velocity Measurement System, developed exclusively for USA Track and Field, will give real-time feedback to athletes. At first, it will provided only to long jumpers, though its developers say it can be useful for sprinters and distance runners, among others.

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The system, unveiled Tuesday, will be permanently located at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

In a sport where results are measured by seconds and meters rather than points scored, American track and field athletes and coaches are hoping that using the system will give them a competitive edge at this summer’s London Olympics.

Track and field, considered key in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s efforts to boost its medal haul at this year’s Games, gets most of its sponsorship from shoe manufacturing companies, so working in this way with a company like BMW is a first. The sport has seen some renewed interest in sponsorship from other industries, including recent event partnerships from information-technology company Harris Corp. /quotes/zigman/228828/quotes/nls/hrs HRS +1.21% and brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev /quotes/zigman/558553/quotes/nls/bud BUD +1.69% .

The project began last summer as a collaboration between engineers at BMW /quotes/zigman/143350 DE:BMW +6.06% /quotes/zigman/143326 XE:BMW +2.91% and sports scientists affiliated with the USOC and USATF.

Cris Pavloff, advanced technology engineer at BMW, said in a conference call Tuesday that the system’s development for track and field will help inform the next generation of pedestrian detection technology for the company’s cars.

Six-year pact

The completion and launch of the project is part of a six-year deal between BMW and the USOC that began in July 2010, which also sees the automaker support four national governing bodies: the USATF, USA Bobsled & Skeleton, US Speedskating, and USA Swimming.

BMW plans to reveal details of other research projects with the USOC and governing bodies on April 18, 100 days before the London Olympics.

Under the deal, BMW provides both financial and performance technology assistance to these organizations. The company said Velocity Measurement System will remain under exclusive use of USATF even beyond the expiration of the relationship.

BMW also has relationships with the Olympic teams of Great Britain, China, France, and Greece, as well as the German bobsled team.

The system is based on existing pedestrian detection systems available in some BMW automobiles, which contain cameras on the front bumpers to provide more environmental feedback to drivers. Coaches at Chula Vista, where some 30 track and field athletes train, will start using the technology by watching long jumpers perform before a camera which tracks vertical and horizontal velocity as well as jump angle based on sensory feedback from a special hat worn by the athlete.

Germany’s BMW Group, which narrowly leads competitor Mercedes-Benz /quotes/zigman/231575 DE:DAI +1.21% /quotes/zigman/231568 DDAIF +2.06% in U.S. luxury car sales by volume, reported net profits of €4.9 billion ($6.5 billion) in fiscal year 2011. The U.S. is currently its largest single market for the brand, comprising 18.4% of sales.

USATF, the non-profit national governing body of the sport, will conduct the 2012 Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon from June 21 through July 1.