From the Track to the Pool: Omega's Olympic Spirit
When talking about the bond between Omega and the Olympic Games, the two have been connected for a long time and have become legends for each other. Since 1932, Omega has served as the official timekeeper for 26 Olympic Games. In this quite long history, the Olympic Games have influenced the progress of the world watch industry, and timekeeping has also contributed to the brilliance of sports events.
When a Centenary Timepiece Meets the Rio Olympics
The flame of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games has been lit. This is the first time that South America has hosted a large-scale, world-famous comprehensive sports event, and it is bound to become a remarkable grand sports gathering. Omega will continue to serve as the official timekeeper for this grand event, taking on a glorious mission once again. The brand will fulfill its due responsibilities with its immortal commitment and eternal passion, and continue the supreme glory it has achieved.
As the officially designated timekeeping brand for the Olympic Games, Omega bears a huge responsibility. This means it is not just a sponsor, but also a huge carrier that has recorded more than one million pieces of data. Omega will provide 335 special sports scoreboards, 450 tons of timekeeping equipment, 480 on-site professional timekeeping staff and more for the Rio Olympics. Of course, Omega does not only focus on the short schedule of just a few weeks, but also devotes itself to researching, developing and mastering the technology for recording every second of accurate timekeeping.
From the athletics track to the swimming pool, Omega has fully demonstrated its amazing magic. On the athletics field, Omega has created many world-famous accurate sports timekeeping devices, including photo-finish cameras, starting blocks, false start detection technology and high-speed camera systems; for swimming events, Omega has developed a timekeeping system that leaves no room for doubt about competition results, including the well-known touch pads. These touch pads are installed at both ends of each swimming lane, allowing athletes to stop the timing themselves with their hands, eliminating errors caused by manual timekeeping. Therefore, for all athletes who will compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Omega will continue to provide accurate and reliable timekeeping services for every competitor with its extremely rich event experience.
1932, it was just the beginning...
In 1932, Omega was entrusted with an important mission at the Los Angeles Olympics and became the first company to serve as the designated timekeeper for the Olympic Games. Since then, Omega has entered into a long-term cooperative partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). At the beginning of the cooperation, Omega provided 1 timekeeper and 30 high-precision timepieces certified by the Neuchâtel Observatory of Switzerland, and successfully achieved an accuracy of 1/10 of a second for competition results. This move not only won praise from the Olympic Organizing Committee, but also helped the Olympic Games establish 17 new world records.
In 1948, Omega introduced a greater timekeeping invention to the London Olympics, that is the first photo-finish camera. Today, the subsequent products of this design are still used on athletics tracks and bring ultra-accurate timekeeping experience to events. The photo-finish camera can help timekeepers accurately determine the time when athletes cross the finish line, and can accurately distinguish the tiny differences in results between athletes, so that competition results no longer cause disputes. Nowadays, the photo-finish cameras used in venues are photo-electric, which can capture 10,000 digital images per second. It is a combination of distance measurement, time recording and image recording, and can present even the tiniest differences on the image.
It is originally extremely difficult for the naked eye to distinguish the winner from the tiny gaps in a competition. At the men's 100-meter freestyle competition of the 1960 Rome Olympics, the referees had serious disagreements when determining the winner. This incident made Omega realize once again the importance of accurate timekeeping. For this reason, Omega introduced the automatic touch pad installed at the end of the swimming pool, allowing swimmers to stop the timing themselves with their hands, ensuring the correct calculation of competition time and the fairness and impartiality of competition results. This design was used at the 1967 Winnipeg Pan American Games and achieved great success.
With the continuous development of the Olympic Games, Omega has also been continuously exploring and innovating in the field of timekeeping. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Omega provided 45 timekeepers and timekeeping equipment weighing as much as 8 tons, including the Omega finish-line photographic printer. This new device is used to capture the image of the moment when an athlete crosses the finish line, and referees can get the image within one minute after the race ends, so as to determine the correct competition result.
When it came to 1984, Omega made another major breakthrough in Olympic timekeeping by introducing a more accurate false start detection device. This equipment is extremely sensitive, and its operating principle is to measure the pressure exerted by the athlete on the starting block to determine whether a false start has occurred. When the pressure exerted by the athlete on the starting block during the start reaches 29 kg (27 kg for female athletes), the device will start to record their reaction time. With an allowable short physiological reaction time of 100 milliseconds, Omega can accurately detect even a slight false start.
In the following 30 years, Omega has developed and formed a brand with a highly precise professional timekeeping system. In today's venues, we can see Omega's new starting blocks, swimming ranking indicator lights, high-precision quantum timers, photoelectric electronic starting guns, and the aforementioned photo-electric photo-finish cameras, etc. Every accurate timekeeping tool is the product of Omega racing against time.
Conclusion: Under the supervision of Omega's accurate timekeeping, Olympic records have been continuously set and broken, and miracles have been continuously created. This is a great power of timekeeping, and also the Olympic spirit that travels through time. (Photo/Text: Watch Home, Fu Liyan)