How do photo finishes work at the Olympic Games, and what really determines the winner when the difference between gold and silver is just milliseconds? Olympics.com provides the full picture.

Let’s imagine August 4, 2024. The world trembles as two sprinters, Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson, await the results of the 100-meter final at the Paris Olympics.

“After we crossed the finish line, he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I think you won,’” Thompson recalls after the race. “I wasn’t sure because it was so close.”

At that moment, no one knows exactly who arrived first. The arena is silent. Coaches are waiting. Fans hold flags. On the display screen, an image spins.

And then, the photo finish image appears. A static picture. Lyles won gold and the Olympic title with a lead of just a few milliseconds.

Only five thousandths of a second separated him from silver.

Before technology entered sports, winners were determined by human eyes, by judges watching who crossed the finish line first. This changed in 1912 at the Stockholm Olympics, when the first photo finish system was introduced for the 1500-meter race, though it was somewhat rudimentary. Complete automation with electronic starts and precise cameras at the finish line came only in 1968 at the Mexico Olympics.

Today, when differences are so subtle, machines must be perfect.

Olympics.com explores the science behind photo finishes and what determines the winner in every sport.

**What is a photo finish?**

A photo finish is a technology that uses highly precise cameras to determine the order in which athletes cross the finish line. It is used when races are so close that judges or slow-motion footage cannot clearly identify the winner with the naked eye.

This system doesn’t record the entire track or pool at once. Instead, it focuses on the vertical finish line and captures each athlete’s crossing moment second by second.

As a result, we get a long, narrow image that might look unusual at first glance but provides extremely precise information about the exact moment each athlete crosses the line.

“At the Olympics, each camera captures 40,000 photos per second at the finish line,” explains Alain Zobrist, CEO of Omega.

Each vertical line is stitched into a continuous image that shows every athlete exactly at the moment they cross.

“Understanding this is difficult because it’s not a wide-angle shot,” Zobrist adds. “It’s a very narrow view composed of multiple images, to show what happens at that specific point in time.”

Additionally, the system includes three synchronized cameras from different angles, which is especially important when one athlete blocks or obscures another at the line.

Once the images are captured, the analysis process becomes more complex. Committees at the Olympics review high-detail images in “quiet rooms” inside stadiums, where specialists scrutinize every detail. The final decision depends on interpretation by judges, who evaluate based on precise images.

When the winner is decided, the job isn’t finished. Additional systems, like motion sensors and positioning devices, further confirm the results. Sometimes, results are decided within milliseconds, and the confirmation process can take longer than the race itself.

On average, it takes about three seconds from the start of the race until the official result is announced. In the closest cases—like the 2024 Paris 100-meter final—the decision may take up to ten seconds, the time judges and technology need to confirm the winner.

“This is the time required to make a fair decision,” Zobrist says. “Speed is important, but accuracy is key. Once the results are officially announced, there’s no turning back.”

**How is a winner determined in different sports?**

Each discipline has specific rules about what precisely counts as crossing the finish line:

- In athletics (track and field), it’s the athlete’s torso crossing the line.
- In cycling, it’s the front edge of the front wheel.
- In swimming, it’s the first touch of the wall, recorded by electronic touch pads.
- In skiing and snowboarding, it’s the tip of the ski or snowboard.
- In rowing and canoeing, it’s the bow of the boat or the belt.
- In sprinting and short-distance running, it’s the tip of the paddle or the front of the shoe.

In a world dominated by high definition and rapid reactions, ensuring a fair and accurate result isn’t easy. But thanks to advanced photo-finish technology, every hundredth of a second is precisely recorded, allowing athletes and spectators to be confident that the winner is truly the fastest.

Sometimes, the most crucial moments are written within the smallest fraction—just a millisecond. That’s why capturing that perfect instant will always remain one of the most precise achievements in sports science.

In elite athletics and sports pushing human limits, photo-finish technology has become an indispensable part of every competition. It not only guarantees fairness and objectivity but also helps athletes secure their deserved victory at critical moments.

Despite the challenges and complexities of the system, accuracy and precision remain