Athletic performance from the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be the focus for the dedicated support teams behind the scenes as the events conclude. Coaches, scientists, medical staff and researchers, are all using the latest analytics to monitor performance, help rehabilitate athletes from injury and give real-time feedback during sporting events.

The book Moneyball by Michael Lewis changed the way the public understand the use of data and sport. Performance is measured and assessed using an evidence-based approach by gathering large amounts of data about athletes, players and the sporting events themselves.

For the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), using data to track the performance of athletes is vital to ensuring they can be competitive on the national and international stage.

Geoff Howes, Deputy General Manager, Business Operations at the Australian Sports Commission explained the investment approach of the ASC and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in a recent interview with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“Who do you invest in? Where do you put your money? So the big question for us is, what’s the data that we have about how sports are tracking towards their goals?”

It is not only professional athletes that benefit from the ASC’s data analytics.

“The benefits that derive from Formula One racing down to the cars that you and I drive around are similar to the work the AIS does around injury or concussion: how do we translate that into some sort of community benefit?”

Learn more about how the ASC uses data to inform their programs and policies at the AIS website.