Canadian amateur sport is about to get its own version of moneyball.
Make that Canadian Tire moneyball.
Own the Podium announced a new deal on Monday (April 27) with Canadian Tire to use data analytics to predict and improve athlete performances, which they hope will give athletes an edge leading up to the 2020 and 2022 Olympic games.
Canadian Tire analysts and statisticians, the same ones in charge of determining Canadian Tire credit card data, will now crunch athlete data over the next three years while providing $750,000 worth of expertise to Canada’s sport organizations.
For example, analytic data could be used to determine if a figure skater has a better chance at a medal by performing a few complex jumps or by performing a glut of mid-level difficulty jumps. It could also predict race time curbs for sports such as swimming, which could help coaches determine if their athletes are on the right training path.
Mining data dating back to 1930 around the globe, analysts can build predictive models that will help determine which athletes are most likely to medal.
“We’re very proud to able to be able to use analytic capabilities to help Own the Podium make decisions that will result in more Canadians achieving their Olympic gold medal dreams,” said Duncan Fulton, senior vice-president of Canadian Tire.
“With our analysis and predictive models, Own the Podium will be able to make new funding decisions that will help Canadian athletes train, compete and dominate on the world stage.”
Locally, Biathlon Canada high performance director Chris Lindsay said the organization already tracks reams of data on each of its athletes, but to have a statistician pick the information apart would be beneficial.
“We have a lot of data. The question becomes what’s the most efficient way to start using it. We have reliable reports, but there are questions a true statistician could help us with, and tease out valuable information,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay said most Own the Podium funds go to high priority sports, so he’s unsure how much assistance will actually flow to Biathlon Canada. Biathlon should be considered a Tier 3 sport by Own the Podium, Lindsay said, following the team’s strong performance this year.
“Because of Own the Podium’s prioritization, we are not seen as a high priority for extra assistance,” Lindsay said.
Biathlon already looks at athlete performance on specific courses, in specific conditions and in windy condition, and he said the data analysis looks at very small improvements for athletes.
Cross Country Canada head coach Justin Wadsworth welcomes the resources, and said the last time Canada used such analysis, Devon Kershaw finished second and Alex Harvey was sixth in overall world cup rankings.
Own the Podium CEO Anne Merklinger said analysis will help Canadian athletes gain valuable seconds in their competitions.
“Olympic and Paralympic medals are often won by inches, or even blinks of an eye,” Merklinger said. “We believe data analytics will be another difference maker in our continued quest to close those small gaps on the world stage and deliver more medals for Canada.”
Currently, the Canadian Tire team is working on a dozen predictive models with swimming, cycling, and rowing. all of which are being treated as highly confidential projects.
