the essential
The pistol shot, traditionally used to start athletic races, can be distressing for people suffering from post-traumatic stress. In response, Ukrainians designed a light signal system to mark the start of marathons.
The gunshot, which starts track and field races around the world, can be difficult to deal with for victims of post-traumatic stress. So last September 15, for the start of the kyiv marathon (5,000 participants from 40 different countries), the organizers tested a new “starter”.
Named “Start without a shot”, this new system uses a digital sound but also a sort of arrow that the starter holds in his hand instead of the gun and which changes from red to green to indicate the departure. For former soldiers, this is a welcome development, as it is for psychologists who have worked with runners suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 (three dead and hundreds injured).
A system soon extended to other races?
“We did research to compare the consequences of a gunshot to those of this new sound created” for the starts, Elena Plakhova, from the race organization, explains to AFP. “The increase in stress levels during a gunshot was almost seven times greater than with this new sound,” adds Plakhova, no stranger to PTSD symptoms. “I was in Donetsk myself in 2014 (when pro-Russian separatists took control of the region) and I experienced the worst stories,” she says.
“I remember visiting my mother and hearing a motorbike and, at the sound of the engine, I lay down on the ground covering my head because it reminded me of other things,” he adds. She. His company is “in contact” with marathon organizers in Europe and the United States to “introduce and demonstrate” the new starting system.