Omega and the Olympic Games
LOFTThe renowned Swiss watchmaker has built a strong international reputation as a pioneer in sports timekeeping, having participated 28 times since 1932 as Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, as well as the more modern Paralympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games.
Historically known for its space-going watches, extreme timekeeping precision, deep-sea exploration, and other world-changing innovations, Omega has developed and introduced many of the most groundbreaking technologies in sports timekeeping, including the electronic time-stamping gun , swimming touchpads , and the Scan-O-Vision MYRIA, a camera used for photo finishes that can take 10,000 digital images per second.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, supposedly to take place in July and August 2021, will mark the 29th time Omega has served the world's greatest athletes. A role the brand has promised to fulfill until 2032, and which will mark Omega's 100th anniversary as the Official Timekeeper of the Games.
The evolution of timekeeping
Omega's first involvement as an official timekeeper involved a single Swiss master watchmaker, who arrived in Los Angeles with just 30 split-second chronographs in 1932. Today, a team of professionals relies on up to 450 tons of equipment, pursuing the same goal: the most perfect timekeeping.
Below are some of the most significant moments from Omega's Olympic timekeeping history that the brand itself has identified as the most important:
1932. First participation
The successful collaboration with the Olympic Committee is born, as evidenced by the words of Technical Sports Director William Henry: "The wonderful success of the Olympic Games cannot be imagined without acknowledging the role Omega plays in this major international event."
1936. Jesse Owens
Omega successfully measures every extraordinary performance of the great Jesse Owens during the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, when this immortal American athlete won a total of 4 gold medals without appeal or competition.
1948. First modern measurement
Omega first used the photocell at the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Olympics and the 1948 London Olympics. A turning point in technological development, when machines finally surpassed human precision.
1952. Croix du Mérite Olympique
With the advent of electronic timekeeping, the Omega Time Recorder allows results to be printed, earning Omega the prestigious Olympic Cross of Merit. With this advancement, official times began to be recorded to the hundredth of a second.
1964. Electronic timing
The debut of electronic timing takes place in Innsbruck, a revolution brought about by the Omegascope, a system that introduced the concept of real time to televised sports by superimposing numbers on the screen. This made Innsbruck the first fully electronic Games.
1968. Touchpads in swimming
A milestone in competitive swimming is the technology introduced by Omega in Mexico City in 1968: pool touchpads. This system allows the swimmer's hand to stop the counter, thus permanently eliminating the need for pool timers.
1992. Scan-O-Vision
Developed for the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, specifically for speed skating, the Omega Scan-O-Vision timing system digitally measures times to the hundredth of a second as the skater crosses the finish line.
2010. Electronic Start System
Omega develops the Electronic Start System for Vancouver, a red, aerodynamic, and futuristic device, worthy of a science fiction movie, with a flash and capable of generating sound that replaces the traditional starting gun.
2012. Quantum Timer
A new era in timekeeping: Omega Timing's Quantum Timer with improved resolution of one millionth of a second (1 µs), and a maximum variation of just one second every ten million seconds.
Omega and the Olympics on video
In Omega's video "Every Fraction of a Second Counts (The Story of Olympic Timekeeping)," the watchmaker demonstrates that the difference between gold and silver can be reduced to microseconds. The documentary explores the glory and pain of those moments through interviews with athletes on both sides of that fine line. https://youtu.be/3WOydolQPjwHistoric Olympic Announcements
Omega has chronicled its history as the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games with iconic commercials capturing every milestone in its prolific relationship with this global event. Check out the Swiss brand's picks here:Omega and Tokyo 2020
This will be the 29th time Omega has been the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, recording the world's finest athletes with ever-increasing accuracy. To commemorate the event, Omega has updated three watches from the Seamaster collection, a perfect celebration of the historic sporting event.
Omega Seamaster Diver "Tokyo 2020”
This 42mm Seamaster Professional Diver 300M , in steel with a blue ceramic bezel and white enamel scale, features a polished white ceramic dial with laser-engraved waves. To commemorate the event, the NAIAD LOCK caseback features a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem on the sapphire crystal. Beneath the crystal is an Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Caliber 8800 movement with extraordinary precision and performance.
Seamaster Aqua Terra "Tokyo 2020" Limited Edition
This 41mm steel model features the first ceramic dial in the Aqua Terra collection, a polished blue finish with a laser-engraved motif inspired by the Tokyo 2020 emblem. Limited to just 2,020 pieces , it features a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem on the sapphire caseback. Inside, the Omega Master Chronometer Calibre 8900 movement ticks.
Seamaster Planet Ocean "Tokyo 2020" Limited Edition
The 2020 edition of this 39.5mm Seamaster Planet Ocean is a tribute to Tokyo and Japan: the white ceramic dial is adorned with a red-tipped “lollipop” central seconds hand depicting the Japanese flag , and on the white ceramic bezel ring, Tokyo 2020 is marked with a red liquid ceramic number 20. Again, the steel and sapphire caseback features a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem.Omega continues its tradition of uncompromising precision with these new Tokyo Olympic Games. We look forward to continuing to enjoy the Swiss brand's technological innovations and new timepieces for this and future editions of this major global sporting event.
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