The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation is advancing its digitalization process with the creation of a centralized data infrastructure developed together with IBM and its technological partner Habber Tec, the IA-THLETICS platform.
The new system, based on IBM watsonx.data technology, allows the consolidation and management of large volumes of information generated by professional athletes — from training sensors and medical tests to biomechanical, physiological, and health data — in a reliable, accessible, and secure environment, IBM said in a press release on Monday, Nov. 10..
With watsonx, the Federation has a single, controlled source of data that enables more precise, personalized decision-making for coaches and technical teams, providing specific recommendations to athletes to improve performance in high-level competitions and prevent injuries.
Olympic Hopefuls
The tool was presented on Monday, Nov. 10, in Madrid, with racewalkers Diego García and Aldara Meilán demonstrating how the technology collects and processes data from their training sessions. Both are preparing for the next Olympic games and are considered some of Spain’s most prominent Olympic hopefuls.
“This project marks a turning point in the way we understand training and performance management. Thanks to IBM technology and the development of Habber Tec, we have been able to analyze athletes’ data in much greater depth, which will allow us to make more informed decisions and personalize each athlete’s training like never before,” said Raúl Chapado, president of the Royal Spanish Athletics Association.
Quality Data For Athletic Improvement
The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation is applying these improvements, with the technological foundation developed on the platform. The technology is used in projects that study athletes’ strides, jumps, and running technique using motion sensors and high-speed cameras. This data helps coaches identify technical areas for improvement. By 2028, around 1,000 coaches will be using the technology to train professional athletes in Spain, IBM said.
The technology works as an ally in sports preparation and decision-making. The platform connects to the applications that coaches and technical teams already use. The tech enables them to receive personalized analysis and data-driven recommendations immediately.
Understanding the Data
In a racewalking project, 7.5 million data points were collected over 2 months of testing with a small group of athletes. When other disciplines, such as discus throw, hurdles, and sprints, are added and more data is generated, the Federation will be ready to develop new use cases for artificial intelligence and big data.
“The challenge isn’t having more data but understanding it. The Federation can reliably interpret data and use it to improve athlete performance. It is not about replacing the coach’s intuition or the athlete’s feedback, but rather about giving them the knowledge and evidence-based information they can rely on,” said Jacobo Garnacho, Business Director of Artificial Intelligence and Data for Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Israel.
Ricardo Arguello, director of Habber Tec Spain, emphasized the robust data layer capable of storing, processing, and providing data from various sources:
“We allow coaches to access detailed information about their athletes for talent and competition management at the federation level. This platform allows the Royal Spanish Sports Federation to establish the basis for consistent scaling in cases of artificial intelligence and massive data analysis.”
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Partnership With Spain
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Senior Vice President of IBM and Director of IBM Research, Darío Gil, signed a partnership agreement in April 2024 at the Moncloa Complex. The new agreement enabled the development of foundational models for Artificial Intelligence in Spanish and co-official languages.
During the meeting, which was also attended by the Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, José Luis Escrivá; the director of the Office of Economic Affairs of the Presidency of the Government, Manuel de la Rocha, and the president of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel, Horacio Morell, they shared challenges and initiatives that are opening up in the field of artificial intelligence and supercomputing.