BROOKFIELD, Wis. — A former Hartland athlete grew up competing in track and became the official timer for the U.S. Olympic Team qualifiers.
An injury forced Sean Gavigan to sit out a year when he was a college freshman. During that time, he ended up starting a company. That company, Primetime Timing in Brookfield, helped decide the U.S. Olympic qualifiers.
"I ran track in high school and college at Arrowhead and then Wisconsin Eau Claire. My freshman year I got injured,” said Sean Gavigan.
Watch: Brookfield man's company helped decide who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team
Sean says that injury turned into an opportunity. His coach handed him their new timing system and asked him to figure out how to run it. That sparked Sean’s interest and because of it, he taught himself how to code. He created a whole new system and his company. This year, PrimeTime Timing was the timer for the U.S. Olympic Trials for Track and Field.
“This was our first year timing it. And actually, the first year since the mid-90s there has been a different timer for the U.S. Championships, so that was a big deal for us and big deal within the industry,” said Sean.
He says what sets his company apart is the technology they put out. They provide live biometrics with chips inside their race bibs.
“We can integrate live biometrics, giving heart rates to NBC so they can show it on-air mid-race,” said Sean.
On top of that, he says they also provide all the LED displays on the field.
“This is an LED display we did for the long jump. You can see the gold, silver, and bronze for qualifying,” said Sean.
Although his work for Team USA is over for now, he is still going to be rooting from Brookfield.
“We are interacting with some of these top athletes all the time. You kind of get to know them, know their personalities and so really it is a lot more fun to see them in Paris and cheer them on,” said Sean.
He hopes he will be timing for the next Olympic Summer Games in 2028 when they are in Los Angeles.
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