Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, may have been satisfied with “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (Faster, Higher, Stronger), but spectators today want a richer motto. “How much faster? How much higher? How much stronger?” are the watchwords for this year’s Olympics, which is likely to see new records set, not only on the track and in the pool but in the technology used to time and measure the individual events.

The statistics are staggering. Atos Origin, the European computing services group, has deployed some 4,000 information technology staff, 10,000 computers and 1,000 servers to support the systems that will relay results, events and athlete information to spectators and media across the world (see sidebar).