India’s middle- and long-distance athletes are making use of a specialised ‘Smart Track’ at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Bengaluru as they prepare for the Asian Games 2026.
A national coaching camp, sanctioned under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), is underway at the SAI centre and will continue until September 8.
The camp features 800m runner Krishan Kumar, steeplechase star Avinash Sable, high jumpers Aadarsh Ram and Supriya B, decathlete Thowfeeq N, middle- and long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary, and race walkers Manju Rani and Priyanka.
All eight athletes are part of India’s approved 73-member athletics contingent, comprising 35 men and 38 women, for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, scheduled from September 19 to October 4.
Alongside conventional training facilities, the athletes at the Bengaluru NCOE are benefiting from a specialised Smart Track that enables coaches to collect real-time performance data during training.
“This is one of its kind in India,” said Suresh Kumar, Coach (Athletics) at SAI NCOE Bengaluru, explaining the technology embedded into the track. “So what happens is when the athlete runs, we get the real-time speed data. We get the split timings, wherever the gates are placed, then the total timing we get, as well as the stride length and the stride frequency. All these data are captured at real time. This helps a lot for the athletes in the training,” Kumar added .
The Smart Track was also extensively used by Commonwealth Games 2026 para-athletics medallists Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Mohammed Basil ahead of the Glasgow Games. The duo finished first and second in the men’s 100m T47 category to win gold and silver respectively.
For athletes, the system offers the additional benefit of replicating electronic timing during training and providing a more accurate assessment of performance.
“The athletes are very happy because they get to understand and find out the real data based on the electronic timing, not just during training but any competitions that take place here,” Kumar said.
Installed in 2024, the Smart Track has since been used by elite athletes training at the centre. Its timing gates are positioned on both the straight and the curve, allowing coaches to analyse different phases of a run. The accompanying app enables the collected data to be accessed immediately for further analysis.
The technology can be integrated into existing synthetic tracks, eliminating the need to construct a new track. According to Kumar, magnetic gates can be embedded beneath the track surface, with the installation process taking as little as a day.
The Bengaluru NCOE is combining high-level coaching, sports science and technology as part of the athletes’ preparations for the Asian Games. The camp includes specialised coaches such as race-walking coach Ronald Gerd Weigel and jumps coach Sahana Kumari Nagaraj Gobbargumpi, along with coach Kalyan Chaudhary and masseuse Meena Sagar Ugale.
The system also provides coaches with split timings that can be difficult to capture manually during sprint sessions.
“You even get the split timing because for a sprint coach, if I’m at the finish line or like 40m or 50m away from when the athlete is starting, we will be able to get the electronic split time,” Kumar explained .
The embedded magnetic timing gates also allow athletes to continue training irrespective of weather conditions. Unlike portable timing equipment, the system remains integrated into the track and can operate in rain and dusty conditions.
“So with this, we don’t have to worry about the weather. We don’t have to worry about the wear and tear, nothing. It’s just like it’s already there. You just need to run over in between that. The real-time data is always available,” Kumar added.
(Inputs from SAI)
