Young expertise at the World Masters Championships in Lahti

At the Masters World Championships 2009 there are approximately 2000 officials working in different duties. One official working in a very responsible duty is the director of the finish-line camera system Joonas Starast. He is in charge together with his team of the digital timing in all three fields during the whole competitions.  

The fresh high school and a double degree graduate, a 19 year old Joonas Starast from Lahti has been focusing after the graduation parties to this challenging duty as a director of the finish-line camera system at the Masters World Championships in Lahti at the end of July. Joonas, who has previously practiced athletics in Lahden Ahkera, has worked in this field already four years despite his young age.   
- I was still selling ice cream in 1997 at Kaleva Games, but after this the duties have been more challenging, Joonas remembers. First, I was assisting Mr. Matti Saira and from that on I was assigned more challenging duties.

Digital technology with thousandth accuracy  

The technical development has been remarkable already during Joonas’s own athlete career. Initially, the recordings were taken with VHS-tapes, and after that there have been new things coming up all the time. The system was transformed from black and white images to colored ones and nowadays a chip is placed in the athlete’s shoe for timing, explains Joonas Starast.  

- The finish-line cameras in our use are able to take 10.000 photos in a second, but 2.000 photos in a second is quite enough, tells Joonas. There’s a need for two finish-line cameras in each field, so altogether six cameras in all three fields. The venues for running events are Radiomäki and Nastola fields in addition to Sport Centre.

The finish-line camera captures vertical images of the torso of an athlete, so the photo is taken from the middle body, where arms, legs and the head fall out. – It pays off to cross the finish-line chest first, Joonas winks to the master athletes of the summer.

Inspired by own grandfather

Joonas’s grandfather was working as a hand timer over three decades and now Joonas continues in his footsteps in the work that has changed into well digital and data communications based. Joonas has studied a degree in electricity in Nastola together with high school.  - After four years of studying it is nice to get to work as an electricity designer in the field, which I found within the contacts made at this hobby, rejoices Joonas. Joonas, who describes the atmosphere amongst the officials as nice, does emphasize the significance of connecting in the challenges of the future.  

A remarkable input from the City

The city of Lahti is investing remarkably in the equipments and after the Championships Lahti will be hiring the purchased cameras to sport clubs and other surrounding municipalities if needed. At the moment Joonas has six cameramen in his team. – It takes assertiveness and calmness to work as a cameraman, he sums the skills required.
- The equipment is sensitive and therefore we need to act extremely carefully.

- The finish-line cameramen unload equipment and are in close cooperation with the starters and result service, Joonas emphasizes the importance of teamwork. There is much less of result lists and papers nowadays.  In addition to athletics Joonas has also worked amongst different sports, such as skiing and biathlon. – The procedures are similar in timing system in rowing, road biking as well as in Formula-racing, tells Joonas Starast, who wouldn’t mind working abroad as a finish-line cameraman in big international competitions.

Joonas keeps himself busy outside the athletics field, for as he works as a football referee as well. And there is still time left for a girlfriend too. Elina, a fresh graduate herself, supports Joonas’s career in the field of sport.
Joonas is expecting the upcoming Championships with enthusiasm and is doing a lot of preparations so that everything will go according to plans at the turn of July-August.