Which timing methods are official, and how are times recorded?

Three methods of timekeeping are official in Little Athletics: fully automatic timing (photo finish), hand timing and a gate timing system.

• Hand timing: appoint enough timekeepers for the number of athletes, one of whom is the Chief Timekeeper. The Chief Timekeeper allocates separate timekeepers to record each of the minor places and, where possible, additional timekeepers for second and third place.
• Photo finish: the camera has a vertical slit in line with the finish line and a time scale graduated in 1/100th of a second. Times are read and recorded to 1/100th, rounded up to the next longer 1/100th unless exact.
• Gate timing: a commercially produced system, checked and calibrated with a certificate supplied every 12 months, started by the starter's gun (automatically or manually at the smoke or flash). It must record through at least two adjacent infrared beams on the leading edge of the finish line and print the time for each lane. Gate times are official unless the appropriate official decides they must be inaccurate, in which case back-up timekeepers' times apply. Where the system is started or finished manually, the time is recorded to 1/10th of a second, rounded up to the next longer 1/10th unless exact. Where it starts and finishes fully automatically, the electronic time is recorded with no adjustment.
• Back-up timing should be appointed wherever the timing system could fail.
• For wheelchair and race running races, time is taken when the centre of the axle of the leading wheel reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line.