High Quality and Absorbing Varsity Match

Oxford and Cambridge had a really close battle, with OT producing results in real time

A fascinating and closely-fought match between Oxford and Cambridge went down to the wire at the weekend, with these historic old rivals locking horns again, as they dutifully have done since 1864, allowing for two world wars and a pandemic. Track and field can trace many of its roots back to Oxbridge, whether it be the protagonists of Chariots of Fire and Harold Abrahams, the Trinity Great Court Run, Evelyn Montague, HB Stallard, David Cecil & double gold Olympic winner Douglas Lowe.

The 2023 edition did not disappoint, and athletes and spectators could track the progress of the match almost in real time due to OT’s technology and results service. Sometimes an athlete would disagree with the match score and would have to be informed that, since they walked over to speak with the results gurus, that a hammer had been flung, or a pole vault cleared, which has moved matters on a pace.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, team managers used our declaration screens (just as we do at National Athletics League) to handle last-minute swaps and changes and keep things up to date

Angus Harrington, CUAC president, adjusting his relay teams

This is what OpenTrack does best - ensuring the precise and fluid narrative of match competition with as little delay as possible.

The top performers of the day illustrate what a classy meet this was:

The matches are scored with a bonus point for the win, with four competitors per event, ie. 5,3,2,1. In the beginning each side fielded one mens’ team, traditionally the “blues”. 48 years ago saw the first ladies match, scored separately. Thus the team competition took shape like this:

And the women scored as thus:

There are also second team matches, also closely fought.

Thus with a possible 10 point swing per event, it was nigh on down to the relays for both matches, which all made for a thrilling day’s fare, and very narrow wins for Oxford in both.

We can do no better than savour the words of OUAC president Isaac Rushworth, who writes: “I have never seen a student-organised competition run so smoothly. Scoring is so essential to this style of event, so being able to get live updates vastly improved the experience. It also makes knowing what is going on in field events so much easier.”