From a simple stopwatch to cutting-edge motion sensors, NBC’s Sam Brock looks at how the technology of timing has changed over the decades.

This year, for the first time ever, athletes in two different sports will control their own clocks. Swimmers have long since stopped the timer on their own using an in-water touch-pad. Now, sport climbers will do the same with a top of the wall touch-pad in speed climbing.

Timing the world’s fastest has certainly come a long way from a simple stopwatch.