Starting pistol

A starting pistol in use at an East German athletics competition in 1961.

Ellen van Dijk fires the starting shot for the 2013 Six Days of Amsterdam.

A starting pistol or starter pistol is a handgun (typically a specially designed revolver) that is fired to start track and field races, as well as competitive swimming races at some meets, and the sound of the gun going off serves as the signal for the athletes to begin the event. Blank shells or caps are used to prevent injury, and thus usually a cloud of smoke can be seen when shot. Starting pistols may be modified versions of standard pistols incapable of firing bullets, most commonly achieved by welding an obstruction into the barrel. When electronic timing is used, a sensor is often affixed to the gun, which sends an electronic signal to the timing system upon firing. For deaf competitors or for modern electronic systems, a light may be used instead.

An issue with the use of starting pistols is that, since the report of the pistol is carried to the competitors at the speed of sound, which takes about 3 milliseconds to travel one metre, positions nearest the starter hear the report a few milliseconds before further positions. This issue is exaggerated in races where the runners begin in a stagger, putting a significant distance between the nearest and furthest runners. To avoid this problem, the pistol is sometimes wired with a microphone that transmits the sound virtually instantaneously to loudspeakers directly behind each competitor.

With security after the September 11 attacks on the US becoming prevalent, causing issues with starting pistols, a trend developed to use electronic starting systems that do not use pistols, but use obviously toy weapons that are wired to the timing system. When the starter presses the button, they emit a signal to play a simulated gunshot that is broadcast to loudspeakers behind each lane, show a flash, emit simulated smoke, and start the timing clock. Many venues have switched to the new format.^[1] Beyond the security concerns, it has also been observed that even with the use of loudspeakers, some competitors still wait for the actual sound of the gun to reach them, and since the new all-electronic starting pistols have no such problems, they became the official way of starting games at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[2]

Criminal use

Some pistols made or converted to fire blanks only can be converted to fire live ammunition. Such makeshift firearms are used in crime and many are illegal to possess.^[3][4]

References

1. Wizards at Omega create space-age starter's pistol
2. The Speed of Sound is too Slow for Olympic Athletes, The Atlantic.
3. Heale, John (15 October 2009). One Blood: Inside Britain's Gang Culture. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 2004. ISBN 978-1-84983-051-5.
4. ATF, ed. (23 April 2013). State Laws and Published Ordinances, Firearms, 2010-2011. Government Printing Office. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-16-091510-9.