"Part of a figure skater's job is to make their routine look as effortless and graceful as possible, as if they're floating on ice and soaring into the air through sheer force of will. In reality, they're often launching themselves multiple feet into the air with what amounts to sand bags on their feet; generating hundreds of pounds of centripetal force through rotations; and landing on a blade that's just 3/16 of an inch wide."
"Jerry Lu is a 2024 MIT graduate and the founder of OOFSports, a sports analytics company that uses AI to analyze program footage, document performance data in real time, and allow commentators to give viewers a more concrete understanding of athletes' feats. At Milan Cortina, he's partnering with NBC Sports on its figure skating, snowboarding, and skiing programming, collecting data like the height of jumps, athletes' speed, and their rotational paths."
"Lu's career in sports analytics began with his own interest in competitive swimming. During his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, he worked with the mathematician Ken Ono to develop a wearable device that let the school's swimmers analyze their strokes, which helped them to increase propulsion and reduce drag. Lu later served as a technical consultant for five swimmers who won medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, followed by 16 medalists at the Paris Olympics in 2024."
An AI-driven sports analytics platform captures program footage and extracts real-time performance metrics such as jump height, speed, and rotational paths for winter sports. The system enables on-air commentators to present precise, moment-by-moment data that clarifies the forces, velocities, and technique behind elite athletic feats. The founder, Jerry Lu, built early sports-tech experience creating a wearable stroke-analyzing device at the University of Virginia and later consulted for multiple Olympic medalists. The platform will be deployed with NBC Sports at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games for figure skating, snowboarding, and skiing broadcasts.
Read at Fast Company
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