With the Asian Games just around the corner, steeplechaser Avinash Sable, long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary and six other Indian track and field athletes are fine-tuning their preparations on a specialised ‘smart track’ at the SAI NCOE in Bengaluru.

The eight are part of a national camp, scheduled to continue until September 8, which has been sanctioned by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

It also features 800m runner Krishan Kumar, decathlete Thowfeeq N, high jumpers Aadarsh Ram and Supriya B and race walkers Manju Rani and Priyanka.

The Asian Games, scheduled in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan from September 19 to October 4.

A smart track allows coaches to capture real-time performance data during training.

“This is one of its kind in India,” said Suresh Kumar, Coach (Athletics) at SAI NCOE Bengaluru.

“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 told SAI Media.

The track was used extensively for training by Commonwealth Games 2026 para-athletics medalists Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Mohammed Basil ahead of the Glasgow Games.

For athletes, the ability to replicate electronic timing during training is another advantage, Kumar explained. The technology also helps athletes get a more accurate understanding of their performances.

“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.

The smart track was installed in 2024 and has since been used by elite athletes training at the centre. Its timing gates are positioned both on the straight and around the curve, allowing coaches to analyse different phases of a run. An accompanying app also enables the data to be accessed immediately for subsequent analysis.

The technology has been designed to work alongside existing athletics infrastructure rather than requiring a completely new track. According to Kumar, the system can be installed on any existing synthetic track by embedding the magnetic gates beneath the surface, with installation possible within a day.

The SAI Bengaluru centre is therefore combining high-level coaching, sports science and technology in the pre-Asian Games camp, which includes specialised coaches such as race-walking coach Ronald Gerd Weigel, jumps coaches Sahana Kumari Nagaraj Gobbargumpi and Sergey Biran, besides coach Kalyan Chaudhary and masseuse Meena Sagar Ugale.

The system also gives coaches information that is difficult to capture manually during a sprint.

“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.